.^EADERS 


PERCY  CROSS  STANDING 


^o- 


I 


<,• 


THE   STAMPEDE   AT   TOFRIK 


GUERILLA  LEADERS 
OF  THE  WORLD 


BV 

PERCY   CROSS   STANDING 

AUTHOR  or  "napoleon's  empire-makers" 

ETC. 


WITH    16    ILLUSTRATIONS    AND    MAPS 
IN    HALF   TONE    AND   LINE 


BOSTON   AND   NEW   YORK 

HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

1913 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    The  Guerilla  Spirit  .  .         .         9 

II.    Brittany   and    La   Vendee  :    La    Roche- 

JAaUELEIN,    ChARETTE,    ETC.    . 

III.  The   Tyrol:    Hofer — Speckbacher — Has 

pinger   .  .  .  . 

IV.  Germany  :  Schill  and  the  Duke  of  Bruns 

WICK        .  .  .  . 

V.  South  America  :  Bolivar  and  Miller 

VI.  Northern  Africa  :  Abd-el-Kader     . 

VII.  The  Caucasus  :  Schamyl 

VIII.  Central  India  :  Tantia  Topee 

IX.  Sicily  and  Italy  :  Garibaldi 

X.    American  Civil  War:  Mosby— Morgan — 
Forrest  .  .  . 

XI.    Mexico  :  Porfirio  Diaz 

XII.    North    America  :     "  Roman     Nose  "     and 
"Sitting  Bull"    . 

XIII.  The  Egyptian  Sudan  :  Osman  Digna 

XIV.  South  Africa  :  De  Wet  and  Delarey 


18 

45 

67 
81 
104 
124 
137 
155 

173 

212 

227 
241 
257 


Index    .       .       .     .     285 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Stampede  at  Tofiuk  (Osman  Digna  chapter)  Frontis. 

PAGE 

The  Battle  of  Nantes       .                 .             .         .  40 

The  Ambush  at  Brixen  (Tyrol  chapter)         .         .  53 

Scene  of  Hofer's  Campaign  in  the  Tyrol          .  63 

Frederick  William,  Duke  of  Brunswick        .         .  69 

Bolivar's  Great  March  over  the  Andes    .         .  87 

Bolivar's  March  Across  the  Andes              .         .  90 

Simon  Bolivar      .                .                ...  95 

The  Capture  of  Abd-kl-kader's  "Smala"  .         .  116 

The  Battle  of  Isly           .                 .             .         .  120 

Garibaldi  at  Aspromonte  .                 .             .         .  160 

Garibaldi  after  AsproxMonte              .             •         .  166 

Morgan's  Great  Raid         .                ...  191 

The  Death  of  "Roman  Nose"         .             .         .  231 

Custer's  Campaign   on  the  Little  Big  Horn        .  239 

De  Wet's  Raids— May  to  August,  1900      .         .  280 

1,  Scene  of  the  attacks  on  the  railway. 

2,  Outline  sketch  of  De  Wet's  movements. 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  grateful 
acknowledgments  to  His  Excellency  the  Sirdar 
of  the  Egyptian  Army,  Lieutenant-General 
Sir  Francis  Reginald  Wingate,  for  kindly  fur- 
nishing some  authoritative  facts  concerning 
the  career  of  Osman  Digna. 

Also  to  Colonel  John  S.  Mosby,  for  personal 
notes  in  connection  with  the  raids  that  ren- 
dered him  famous  during  the  war  between 
the  Northern  and  Southern  States  of  the 
American  Union. 

And  to  Lieutenant-General  the  Earl  of 
Dundonald,  c.b.,  k.c.v.o.,  for  courteously  sup- 
plying data  bearing  upon  the  war  of  South 
American  liberation,  in  which  his  distinguished 
grandfather,  the  friend  of  Bolivar  and  Miller, 
was  so  gloriously  involved. 


GUEKILLA  LEADERS 
OF  THE  WORLD 

CHAPTER    I 

THE    GUERILLA    SPIRIT 

The  Guerilla  fighter,  or  approved  exponent 
of  the  methods  and  tactics  of  irregular  warfare, 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  brigand  or 
the  freebooter.  He  is  essentially  a  soldier, 
but  a  soldier  attaining  his  end  by  ways  and 
means  diametrically  opposed  to  those  of  the 
military  school,  the  drill-ground,  and  the 
technical  field-order.  His  simpler,  less  digni- 
fied, but  not  less  forcible  methods  include 
the  surprise,  the  raid,  the  ambuscade,  the  night- 
attack,  and  notably  the  feint.  He  may  be 
but  a  poor  peasant  who  has  taken  up  arms  in 
defence  of  his  hearth  and  home,  or  he  may  be 
the  more  highly  skilled  fighter  trained  to  the 
profession  of  arms,   and  utilised  by  a  com- 

9 


10  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

mander  in  the  field  as  the  complement  to  his 
better-disciplined  levies.  In  any  event  the 
guerilla  is,  other  things  being  equal,  a  veritable 
thorn  in  the  side  of  any  army  of  occupation. 
Not  infrequently  in  the  world's  history,  his 
tactics  of  remorseless  resistance  and  resourceful 
daring  have  compelled  the  long  struggle  to 
be  decided  in  his  favour  at  the  last. 

Judging  from  the  teachings  of  Biblical 
history,  the  irregular  warrior  was  a  striking 
factor  in  the  great  days  of  Joshua  and  of  Moses. 
From  mediaeval  times  onward  he  has  fought 
and  bled  in  all  lands.  He  played  a  glorious 
part  in  resisting  the  successive  invasions  of 
our  own  country  by  the  Romans,  the  Picts 
and  Scots,  the  Saxons,  the  Norsemen,  and  the 
Normans.  Here  ward  the  Wake,  beloved  of 
all  readers  of  Kingsley's  brilliant  romance, 
was  a  very  prince  and  exemplar  of  guerilla 
methods.  His  magnificent  resistance  among 
the  marshlands  and  fenlands  of  his  beloved 
Isle  of  Ely,  culminated  in  his  superb  feat  of 
cutting  his  way,  almost  single-handed,  through 
the  mail-clad  host  of  that  William  the  Norman, 
who  was  glad  to  grant  him  his  life  and  liberty 
and  accept  his  fealty.  Next  in  importance  to 
Hereward  come  William  Wallace  and  Robert 


THE    GUERILLA    SPIRIT  11 

the  Bruce,  whose  relentless  methods  of  moun- 
tain warfare,  terminating  in  the  death  of  one 
and  the  kingship  of  the  other,  inevitably  led 
up  to  the  re-esfcablishment  of  Scottish  indepen- 
dence. Nor  should  one  omit  a  passing  reference 
to  the  military  methods  of  the  renowned  Du 
Guescelin  in  opposing  the  English  invasion  of 
France. 

Coming  down  through  the  dark  centuries 
of  sanguinary  and  bitter  war  that  changed 
and  rechanged  the  map  of  Europe  many  times 
over,  we  arrive  at  the  period  when  the  seasoned 
veterans  of  Napoleon  the  Great  were  finding 
their  level,  and  meeting  their  match,  among 
the  wild  hills  of  Calabria  and  in  the  frowning 
mountain  fastnesses  and  grim  sierras  of  Spain 
and  Portugal,  at  the  hands  of  countless  hordes 
of  guerilla  soldiers.  Taking  the  cruel  case  of 
Italy  first — in  the  days  when  Napoleon  was 
conquering  it  for  his  brother  Joseph,  and  when 
his  picked  troops  were  vanquished  by  our 
General  Sir  John  Stuart — we  find  that  the 
methods  in  vogue  among  the  infuriated 
peasantry  were  partly  those  of  the  brigand. 
For  this  reason  I  have  refrained  from  including 
in  my  story  the  names  of  Fra  Diavolo,  Fran- 
catripa,  and  the  other  famed  leaders  of  Cala- 


12  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

brian  banditti  who  varied  their  customary 
tactics  of  plunder  and  ransom  by  joining  in  the 
common  cause  of  ridding  their  fair  country 
of  the  hated  foe.  They  were,  in  effect,  the 
Robin  Hood  and  Little  John  of  their  honour- 
able calling  in  the  South,  and  as  such  can 
hardly  be  accorded  a  place  in  what  presumes 
to  be  a  record  of  the  most  illustrious  leaders  of 
irregular  warriors  as  distinct  from  freebooters. 
The  broad  fact  remains  that  these  dauntless 
hearts,  and  others  like  them,  were  largely 
instrumental  in  carrying  to  a  successful  issue 
the  practical  extermination  of  the  various 
powerful  forces  sent  into  Italy  to  bolster  up 
the  tottering  power  of  Joseph  Napoleon  and 
afterwards  of  Murat,  King  of  Naples. 

For  the  differing  reason  that  in  the  Spanish 
peninsula  there  was  so  great  a  variety  of 
notable  partisan  leaders  to  arrest  the  march 
of  Napoleonic  conquest  that  it  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  pick  out  one  name  more  prominent 
than  another,  I  have  omitted  a  separate 
reference  to  this  prolonged  and  bloody  struggle. 
The  sombre  fact  remains,  that  during  the  half- 
dozen  years,  1807-18,  of  "  conquista "  and 
"  reconquista  "  of  the  French  might  in  Spain 
and  Portugal,  the  war  was  waged  with  such 


THE    GUERILLA    SPIRIT  13 

unremitting  ferocity  that  one  hundred  thousand 
is  a  rough  estimate  of  the  number  of  French  h  ves 
lost.  If  the  name  of  one  leader  of  the  banded- 
together  Iberian  peasantry  stands  out  more 
prominently  than  another  in  this  life  and  death 
struggle,  it  is  that  of  the  heroic  Mina.  "  These 
leaders  had  the  most  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  woods  and  passes  of  the  mountains,  and 
had  the  most  immediate  information  from  the 
peasantry  of  the  movements  of  the  French. 
They  could  therefore  come  upon  them  when 
totally  unlooked  for,  and  cut  them  off  suddenly. 
If  they  were  repulsed,  they  disappeared  like 
shadows  into  the  forests  and  deserts.  Some- 
times they  came  several  thousand  strong ; 
sometimes  a  little  band  of  ten  or  twenty  men 
would  dash  forward  from  their  concealment 
and  effect  some  startling  deed.  To  chase  them 
appeared  hopeless,  for  they  spread  through 
a  thousand  ways,  as  water  sinks  into  the  earth 
and  disappears.  To  intimidate  them,  Marshal 
Soult  published  a  proclamation  that  he  would 
treat  them  as  bandits,  and  would  immediately 
shoot  all  he  captured ;  the  guerillas  replied 
by  another  proclamation  that  for  every 
Spaniard  they  would  execute  three  French- 
men— and  they  so  literally  fulfilled  their  threat 


14  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

that  the  French  were  compelled  to  return  to 
the  ordinary  rules  of  warfare."  Often  the 
local  doctor  or  cure  would  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  one  of  those  patriotic  partisan  bands, 
who  at  other  times  would  be  headed  by  a 
trained  Spanish  officer  or  some  grandee  fired 
by  love  of  country. 

In  the  following  pages  we  shall  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  guerilla  fighter  in  all  quarters 
of  the  globe.  We  shall  see  the  swarthy 
Mexican  half-breed  turning  upon  his  Spanish 
oppressor  as  the  Spaniard  had  turned  upon  his 
Gallic  invader — the  Tyrolese  peasant  opposing, 
with  the  weapons  of  primeval  savagery,  the 
French  onslaught  of  his  exquisite  country — 
the  Red  Man  with  his  back  to  the  wall  waging 
his  last  fight  against  utter  extinction — the 
wild  and  fantastic  Circassian  beating  back  the 
Muscovite  aggressor  until  overwhelmed  by 
sheer  numbers — the  savage  Dervish  employing 
every  device  of  barbaric  war  to  entrap  and 
hamper  the  British  saviour  of  the  Sudan. 
We  shall  merely  take  a  few  salient  points 
from  the  life-story  of  that  popular  hero  and 
"  saviour,"  Garibaldi.  As  we  have  discovered 
few  elements  of  the  picturesque  in  the  English 
conquest  of  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand,  we 


THE    GUERILLA    SPIRIT  15 

shall  omit  the  name  of  their  approved  leader 
Te  Kooti,  whose  raids  embarrassed  our  troops 
not  a  little.  And  while  we  shall  hope  to  do 
justice  to  the  romantic  story  of  Abd-el-Kader's 
prolonged  resistance  to  the  French  in  Algeria, 
we  shall  waste  little  time  over  the  adventures 
of  the  Republic's  armies  in  Indo-China  during 
the  seventies  and  eighties — so  largely  the 
record  of  a  tireless  but  tiresome  attempt  at 
the  suppression  of  piracy  and  dacoity,  that  one 
wonders  that  persistent "  earth-hunger"  should 
have  tempted  Republican  France  into  a  long 
and  costly  war  with  the  Chinese  Empire  for 
the  possession  of — what  ? 

The  American  War  of  Secession  teems  with 
feats  of  daring  done  after  the  most  approved 
patterns  of  irregular  fighting.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  in  this  most  frightful  of  civil  wars 
nearly  all  the  partisan  soldiers  of  real  dis- 
tinction were  produced  by  one  side,  the  Con- 
federate. There  is,  too,  a  particular  element  of 
interest  about  the  guerilla  operations  of  this 
four  years'  contest,  inasmuch  as  it  witnessed 
the  unusual  spectacle  of  more  than  one  regular 
General  officer  adopting  irregular  ways  and 
with  most  unequivocal  success,  e.g.  General 
J.  E.  B.  Stuart  and  General  N.  B.  Forrest. 


16  GUERILLA   LEADERS 

In  his  illuminating  work  on  Small  Wars, 
Major  Callwell  has  a  well-reasoned  exposition 
of  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  guerilla.  He  is, 
this  writer  points  out,  "  what  the  regular 
armies  have  always  to  dread,  and  when 
directed  by  a  leader  with  genius  for  war  an 
effective  campaign  becomes  wellnigh  impossible, 
.  .  .  Hilly  and  broken  ground,  or  districts 
clothed  in  jungle  growth  and  thickets,  are 
requisite.  On  the  prairie  and  the  steppes,  on 
the  other  hand,  guerilla  warfare  can  only  be 
attempted  by  mounted  men  whose  mobility 
at  least  partially  compensates  for  the  lack  of 
cover  as  they  approach.  .  .  .  Surprise  is  the 
essence  of  such  operations — surprise  with  re- 
treat ere  the  opponent  can  recover  as  a  sequel  ; 
and  in  consequence  the  combinations  are  of 
necessity  framed  on  a  small  scale.  Surprises 
with  large  forces  are  difficult  to  carry  out ; 
the  withdrawal  of  these  when  once  com- 
mitted to  action  is  most  risky.  Guerilla 
warfare  therefore  almost  of  necessity  means 
petty  annoyance  and  not  operations  of  a 
dramatic  kind.  Such  capricious  methods  of 
conducting  operations  are  best  met  by  a 
resolute  plan  of  campaign  and  by  an  organi- 
sation favouring  rapid  and  energetic  counter- 


THE    GUERILLA    SPIRIT  17 

strokes.  Surprise  can  to  a  certain  extent  be 
guarded  against  by  measures  taken  for  se- 
curity ;  but  the  escape  of  the  enemy  can  only 
be  frustrated  by  having  troops  ready  to  follow 
up  at  once  and  effectively." 

The  prolonged  struggles  of  the  Royalists 
in  La  Vendee  and  Brittany,  against  the  might 
of  the  Republican  armies  when  France  lay 
drenched  in  the  blood  of  her  best  and  noblest, 
form  the  first  picture  of  guerilla  warfare  that 
we  propose  to  depict.  It  is  a  picturesque  and 
stirring  chapter  in  the  story  of  internecine 
strife,  in  addition  to  being  an  object-lesson 
for  the  student  of  campaigns  of  the  partisan 
versus  the  professional  soldier.  There  are  few 
more  romantic  figures  in  history  than  the  two 
brothers  La  Rochejaquelein.  The  work  done 
in  La  Vendee  by  the  one  was  carried  on  after 
his  heroic  death  by  the  other,  each  in  his  turn 
falling  on  the  battlefield  for  the  cause  which  he 
deemed  right  and  holy. 


B 


CHAPTER  II 

BRITTANY  AND   LA  VENDEE  :     LA   ROCHEJAQUE- 
LEIN,    CHARETTE,    ETC. 

^'Sije  recule,  tuez-moi — slj'avance,  su'wez-moi — sljemeurs, 
venc/ez-moi." — La  Rochejaqueleix  to  his  followers. 

The  name  "  Chouan  revolt,"  as  applied  to 
the  Royalist  insurrection  which  broke  out  in 
Brittany  at  the  height  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, has  been  variously  interpreted.  It  is 
most  likely  to  have  been  a  corruption  of  the 
word  chat-huant  (screech-owl),  a  bird  whose 
harsh  note  appears  to  have  been  imitated 
by  the  insurgents  by  way  of  a  signal,  or  possibly 
it  came  from  a  nickname  applied  to  the  Breton 
smuggler  Jean  Cottereau,  with  whom  the 
first  rising  chiefly  originated.  However  this 
may  have  been,  "  Chouans  "  was  the  name 
by  which  the  revolted  Bretons  came  to  be 
known,  and  Chouannerie  a  generic  title  for 
their  organisation  in  opposition  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary authority. 

At    first   the   rebellion    did    not    altogether 

18 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       19 

prosper,  for  Jean  Cottereau  did  not  perhaps 
conduct  it  on  lines  that  would  commend  it  to 
the  noblest-minded  of  patriots.  But,  as  luck 
would  have  it,  Jean  fell  in  a  skirmish  at 
Misdon,  and  was  succeeded  in  the  conduct 
of  the  movement  by  Desoteux  (better  known 
as  Baron  Cormatin),  a  man  of  little  military 
attainment.  Cormatin  was  ultimately  taken 
prisoner,  but  not  before  he  and  others  had 
succeeded  in  lifting  the  enterprise  from  the 
level  of  a  mere  parochial  outbreak.  Not  far 
away,  in  La  Vendee,  a  rising  was  also  imminent, 
and  it  is  at  this  juncture  that  the  honoured 
name  of  La  Rochejaquelein  first  looms  promi- 
nent. We  shall  return  to  Brittany  presently. 
Henri,  Comte  de  la  Rochejaquelein,  a  son 
of  the  Marquis  of  that  name,  was  born  at 
Chatillon,  in  Poitou,  in  1772.  Thus  he  was 
barely  twenty  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, which  found  him  serving  in  the  Royal 
Guard  of  Louis  XVI.  He  was  as  ardent  as 
he  was  handsome,  as  gifted  as  he  was  heroic, 
and  he  only  yearned  for  an  opportunity  of 
serving  his  ill-fated  employer  the  King.  On 
August  10th,  1792,  took  place  the  massacre 
of  the  Swiss  Guards  and  the  deposition  and 
seizure   of   Louis.     Then   it   was   that    Henri 


20  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Rochejaqiielein  quitted  Paris  in  order  to 
throw  in  his  lot  with  the  peasantry  of  his  own 
RoyaHst  district  of  Poitou,  who  were  seeking 
to  create  a  diversion  in  favour  of  the  King. 
From  thence  he  proceeded  to  the  seat  of  the 
more  formidable  rising  among  the  Chouans. 

The  young  aristocrat's  words  in  accepting 
high  command  in  this  bitter  struggle  against 
the  forces  of  the  Assembly  were  memorable. 
He  simply  said,  "  I  am  young  and  inexperi- 
enced, but  I  have  an  ardent  desire  to  render 
myself  worthy  of  leading  you.  Let  us  march 
to  meet  the  enemy.  If  I  give  way,  kill  me — 
if  I  advance,  follow  me — if  I  fall,  avenge 
me  !  " 

A  Maid  of  Orleans,  by  her  personal  and 
spiritual  influence,  could  hardly  have  evoked 
more  enthusiasm  from  her  followers  than  did 
the  young  Comte  by  these  burning  words. 
They  were  uttered  at  a  time  when  they  were 
sorely  needed,  for  shortly  after  La  Roche- 
jaquelein's  arrival  at  the  theatre  of  war  the 
Vendean  resistance  sustained  a  heavy  loss 
by  the  death  of  Jacques  Cathelineau — himself 
a  man  of  such  simplicity  and  sanctity  of  life 
that  he  came  to  be  known  among  his  simple 
followers  as  "  the  Saint  of  Anjou."     Cathe- 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       21 

lineau  was  Anjouan  by  birth,  and  when  the 
trouble  started  with  the  storming  of  the 
Bastille  he  was  quietly  following  the  avocation 
of  a  linen  merchant.  Modesty,  initiative, 
and  a  lion-like  courage  were  his  chief  character- 
istics, and  a  few  short  weeks  of  guerilla  warfare 
so  eminently  marked  him  out  for  this  kind  of 
work  that  he  had  no  choice  but  to  accept  the 
chief  command.  His  raw  but  enthusiastic 
levies  brilliantly  carried  by  storm  the  fortified 
town  of  Chollet,  and  followed  this  up  by 
routing  the  Republican  forces  of  Saumur. 
Cathelineau  next  planned  and  cleverly  carried 
out  (June,  1793),  in  conjunction  with  a  col- 
league, Franyois  Charette,  an  assault  on 
Nantes.  Under  his  watchful  eye  30,000 
Chouans,  with  their  picturesquely  unconven- 
tional equipment  of  scythes,  pikes,  old  swords, 
and  muskets  and  bayonets  taken  from  Re- 
publican foes,  had  penetrated  into  the  town 
and  were  gallantly  pressing  the  onslaught. 
But  their  self-sacrificing  General,  alasj  had 
struck  his  last  blow  for  the  Royalist  cause. 
A  musket-ball  mortally  wounded  him,  and 
such  was  the  effect  of  this  disaster  on  his  un- 
disciplined followers  that  they  relinquished 
their  advantage  and  fled,   carrying  his   body 


22  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

with  them.  The  devoted  Cathehneau  lingered 
in  agony  for  twelve  days,  passing  away  at 
St.  Florent  on  July  11th,  1793.  This  stern 
struggle  for  the  possession  of  Nantes  lasted 
eighteen  hours.  The  Republican  troops,  who 
were  in  great  force,  were  commanded  by 
General  Westermann,  whose  men  were  guilty 
of  the  grossest  outrages  and  barbarities  as 
they  laid  waste  the  beautiful  Vendean  country. 
But  the  people,  aroused  to  a  pitch  of  fury  by 
the  death  of  their  beloved  leader,  dogged  the 
savage  Westermann's  advance  until  they 
gradually  destroyed  his  organisation.  In  con- 
junction with  the  complete  overthrow  of 
another  large  Republican  force  near  Vihiers, 
this  for  the  time  being  cleared  the  province 
of  the  enemy. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  go  back  a  little  in 
order  to  outline  the  particular  circumstances 
in  which  the  people  of  La  Vendee  found 
themselves  placed.  A  simple  and  deeply 
religious  folk,  they  had  observed  with  un- 
feigned horror  the  resistless  onward  sweep 
of  the  Revolution,  for  they  "  wanted  no  Re- 
public, no  sans-culotteism,  no  goddess  of  Nature 
or  of  Reason."  To  their  Breton  aristocracy, 
who  were  for  the  most  part  simple  country 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       23 

squires,  they  were  sincerely  attached,  and 
not  less  so  to  their  priests.  The  religious 
aspect,  indeed,  lends  a  peculiar  interest  to 
this  sanguinary  struggle,  for  the  loyal-hearted 
peasantry  simply  supported  and  maintained 
their  priests  after  the  notorious  Republican 
enactment  which  culminated  in  the  ejectment 
of  many  cures  in  favour  of  Paris-made  and 
loose-lived  "  pastors."  They  also  continued 
to  pay  their  dues  to  their  seigneurs,  though 
forbidden  by  the  Convention  ;  the  situation 
has  been  not  inaptly  compared  with  the 
Scottish  Covenanters'  attitude  towards  the 
Stuart  regime.  The  horrors  of  August  10th, 
1792,  in  Paris  made  a  profound  impression  in 
the  province.  Two  young  Breton  noblemen 
who  escaped  from  the  assault  on  the  Tuileries — 
the  Marquis  de  Lescure  and  Count  Charles 
D'Antichamp — returned  home,  and  were  joined 
by  La  Rochejaquelein  and  other  aristocrats  in 
arranging  a  scheme  of  operations  against  the 
Republican  power.  The  latter  retorted  by 
making  a  large  number  of  arrests,  and  when, 
in  the  following  March,  the  Convention  de- 
manded 300,000  conscripts.  La  Vendee  flatly 
refused  its  quota.  Republican  troops  were 
promptly  marched  into  the  province,  and  the 


24  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

peasantry  flew  to  arms  with  the  above  "  aristo- 
crats "  as  leaders  in  addition  to  Nicolas 
Stofflet  (a  German  huntsman  to  the  Marquis 
Maulevier),  Charette,  De  Bonchamps,  and 
Cathelineau.  The  Marquis  de  Lescure  and 
others  were  seized  and  interned  at  Bressuire, 
but  were  speedily  rescued  by  La  Roche- 
jaquelein  in  person.  The  civil  war's  first 
great  incident  was  the  battle  of  Nantes  and 
death  of  Cathelineau,  which  we  have  just 
noticed.  La  Vendee  generally  is  "  a  country 
of  low  hills  and  narrow  vallevs,  intersected 
by  perpetual  streams  and  thick  hedgerows." 
Most  of  the  peasants  were  admirable  marks- 
men, for  there  were  no  game-laws  in  La 
Vendee,  and  everyone  carried  a  gun  at  pleasure 
and  joined  in  the  sports  of  the  gentry.  Accord- 
ingly, the  Vendeans  formed  ambushes  in 
the  narrow  woody  passes  and,  hemming  in  the 
Republican  troops,  poured  down  upon  them 
the  most  deadly  fire  from  their  concealed 
positions.  In  the  open  fields  they  attacked 
them  from  behind  the  thick  hedges,  and  when 
driven  from  one  hedge  by  overwhelming  num- 
bers, retired  to  another.  Between  the  Bocage 
and  the  sea  lay  the  Maraisor,  as  its  name 
indicates,    a   district   of   marshes — intersected 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       25 

by  dykes  and  canals.  In  such  a  country,  the 
Republicans  for  a  time  suffered  the  most 
terrible  losses. 

From  end  to  end  it  is  a  luridly  pitiable  story. 
Determined  to  crush  the  rising  by  sheer  weight 
of  numbers  the  Convention  sent  not  less  than 
100,000  men  into  La  Vendee,  with  several  of 
their  best  Generals — including  Kleber,  after- 
wards destined  to  a  tragic  death  in  Egypt. 
With  characteristic  double-dealing,  the  Re- 
publican Government  included  in  this  army 
some  20,000  who  had  capitulated  to  the 
Prussians  at  Mayence  and  had  given  a  solemn 
pledge  that  they  would  not  take  up  arms 
again — also  a  large  number  who,  having  been 
made  prisoners  by  the  Vendeans,  had  registered 
a  similar  promise  to  them.  This  gross  perjury 
exasperated  the  guerillas  to  such  an  extent 
that  henceforth  it  became  a  war  of  barbarous 
extermination  on  both  sides.  No  prisoners 
were  taken,  and  the  Republicans  slaughtered, 
burned,  and  pillaged  as  they  advanced,  making 
of  that  fair  land  a  pandemonium. 

Kleber  was  twice  beaten  back  with  heavy 
losses,  but  the  superiority  of  his  artillery 
slowly  but  surely  told.  No  less  than  three  of 
the  principal  Royalist  chiefs  fell  in  this  bitter 


26  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

struggle — the  Marquis  de  Lescure,  d'Elbee 
(severely  wounded),  and  De  Bonchamps. 
Practically  the  whole  remaining  population, 
from  the  doddering  old  man  to  the  babe  at 
the  breast,  were  now  on  the  move  towards 
the  Loire — for  if  they  remained,  they  remained 
but  to  be  murdered,  and  their  homesteads 
were  in  flames  behind  them.  The  gallant 
Prince  de  Talmont,  an  influential  Breton 
nobleman  who  had  previous  experience  of  war, 
advised  a  retreat  across  the  Loire  into  Brittany, 
where  they  would  find  thousands  of  Chouans 
in  arms. 

There  were  only  a  score  of  boats  to  carry 
something  like  100,000  men,  women  and 
children  across  the  broad  river.  But  it  was 
effected  somehow,  for  although  the  relentless 
enemy's  guns  were  heard,  he  failed  to  arrive 
in  time  to  open  on  the  densely  packed  mass  of 
fugitives.  Nevertheless,  there  was  a  sufficiency 
of  terrible  incidents  at  the  crossing.  To 
instance  only  two,  the  mortally  wounded 
Marquis  de  Lescure  was  jolted  along  in  a 
carriage  until  he  expired,  while  his  infant  son 
(the  Marquise  was  with  her  husband)  wailed 
pitiably  for  sustenance  until  a  drop  of  milk 
was  found  for  him  in  a  burning  village.     And 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       27 

the  Marquise  La  Rochejaquelein,  who  also  had 
an  infant  in  arms,  declared  that  the  inferno 
resembled  "  the  Day  of  Judgment."  Her 
husband,  assisted  by  Stofflet,  assumed  com- 
mand of  this  mob  of  fugitives  after  the  death 
of  Lescure. 

Once  across  the  great  river  and  joined  by 
some  7000  disciplined  Chouans,  they  took 
fresh  heart  and  read  a  severe  lesson  to  Generals 
Westermann  and  Lechelle,  who  sought  to 
intercept  their  march  on  Laval.  After  this 
repulse  Lechelle  ("  from  mortification  and 
terror  of  the  guillotine,  now  the  certain 
punisher  of  defeated  Generals  ")  died  en  route. 
It  was,  however,  but  a  temporary  gleam  of 
sunshine  for  the  poor  peasants,  who  declined 
to  adopt  La  Rochejaquelein's  advice  that  they 
should  retreat  into  the  interior  of  Brittany 
and  continue  the  struggle  within  easy  touch  of 
the  seaboard  and  English  co-operation.  In- 
stead, they  elected  to  follow  a  route  into 
Normandy  and  make  for  Cherbourg,  which 
they  never  reached.  Finally,  all  save  about  a 
thousand  men  who  remained  with  La  Roche- 
jaquelein, they  retraced  their  steps  towards 
the  Loire  led  by  Stofflet.  After  more  horrors, 
in  course  of  which  hundreds  of  their  women 


28  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

were  seized  and  shot  by  the  savage  foe,  they 
found  themselves  hemmed  in  at  Savenay  by 
the  united  forces  of  Kleber  and  Westermann, 
between  the  Loire,  the  Vilaine,  and  the  coast. 
This  time  they  were  practically  exterminated, 
and  Kleber  proudly  (?)  announced  to  the 
Convention  that  La  Vendee  was  "  no  more." 
It  is  odd,  by  the  way,  to  find  two  such  names 
as  Stofflet  and  Westermann  fighting  against 
each  other  in  a  civil  war  on  French  soil.  These 
events  closed  the  year  1793. 

Over  the  unthinkable  horrors  which  mean- 
while had  been  accumulating  in  the  city  of 
Nantes,  it  is  best  to  draw  a  veil.  In  Swinburne's 
phrase,  the  monster  Carrier  "  came  down  to 
the  Loire  and  slew."  His  fiendish  revival  of 
the  noyades,  or  drownings  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  included  such  items  as  the  murder  by 
night  of  ninety  priests  by  dropping  them 
through  boats  having  movable  bottoms  ;  the 
shooting  down  of  five  hundred  little  children  ; 
the  drowning  in  a  batch  of  three  hundred 
young  "  women  of  the  town  "  ;  and  the  death 
of  one  of  Carrier's  executioners  from  remorse  ! 
The  number  of  this  wretch's  pitiful  victims 
totalled  up  to  15,000,  or  about  one  half  of 
those    who    died    in    various    fearful    ways — 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       29 

famine  and  disease  included — under  the  Reign 
of  Terror  at  Nantes.  It  is  satisfactory  to 
recall  that  Carrier,  whose  Breton  enormities 
"  shocked "  even  Robespierre,  was  himself 
ultimately  brought  to  the  guillotine. 

The  spring  of  1794  opened  with  two  more 
paralysing  catastrophes  for  the  Vendeans. 
The  largest  body  of  those  who  escaped  from 
the  conflict  or  massacre  at  Savenay  got  into 
rile  de  Noirmoutier,  led  by  Charette,  who  was 
accompanied  by  the  wounded  General  d'Elbee 
and  his  wife  and  a  brother  of  the  dead  Cathe- 
lineau.  Presently  Charette  departed  on  an 
incursion  into  the  mainland,  leaving  1800 
men  to  guard  the  sick  and  wounded.  This 
wretched  garrison  allowed  itself  to  be  cor- 
rupted by  the  Republican  General  Turreau — 
afterwards  distinguished  in  the  wars  of  Italy 
— who  was  barbarian  enough  to  have  d'Elbee 
and  his  wife  shot  and  the  wounded  abominably 
treated.  Blow  number  two,  and  heavier  in 
its  far-reaching  effect  on  the  peasant  folk  who 
worshipped  him,  was  the  untimely  death  of 
the  chivalrous  Henri  La  Rochejaquelein,  aged 
only  twenty-one.  Undaunted,  even  though 
his  advice  had  not  been  taken,  he  managed 
to  raise  fresh  forces  in  Upper  Poitou.     With 


30  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

these  he  was  moving  towards  Nouaille  on 
March  4th,  1794,  when  they  encountered  a 
couple  of  Republican  soldiers.  He  humanely 
offered  them  quarter,  but  their  response  was 
to  shoot  him  dead !  The  young  Marquis's 
career  was  nobly  sacrificed  to  the  cause  he 
had  at  heart. 

Meanwhile  Robespierre  had  fallen,  and  the 
brilliant  young  General  Lazare  Hoche  was  the 
next  officer  entrusted  with  the  "  pacification  " 
of  the  Vendean  country.  Says  Major  Callweil  : 
"  Hoche,  whose  conduct  of  the  campaign 
against  the  Chouans  and  insurgents  from  La 
Vendee  will  ever  remain  a  model  of  operations 
of  this  kind,  achieved  success  as  much  by  his 
happy  combination  of  clemency  with  firmness 
as  by  his  masterly  dispositions  in  the  theatre 
of  war.  Expeditions  to  put  down  revolt  are 
not  put  in  motion  merely  to  bring  about  a 
temporary  cessation  of  hostility,  their  purpose 
is  to  ensure  a  lasting  peace.  Therefore,  in 
choosing  the  objective  the  overawing  and  not 
the  exasperation  of  the  enemy  is  the  aim  to 
keep  in  view.''^  Hoche,  whose  perfected  spy- 
service  was  a  special  feature,  did,  in  fact,  bring 
about  his  "  pacification  "  of  La  Vendee  by  a 

1  Small  Wars,  p.  21. 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       31 

happy  and  (at  that  time)  original  system  which 
is  thus  summarised  by  Thiers :    "  He  devised 
an    ingenious    mode  of  reducing  the  country 
without  laying  it  waste,  by  depriving  it  of  its 
arms  and  taking  part  of  its  produce  for  the 
supply  of  the  Republican  army.     In  the  first 
place    he    persisted    in    the    establishment    of 
entrenched  camps.    He  then  formed  a  circular 
line  which  was  supported  by  the  Sevre  and 
Loire  and  tended  to  envelope  progressively  the 
whole  country.     This  line  was  composed  of 
very  strong  detachments,  connected  by  patrols 
so  as  to  leave  no  free  space  by  which  an  enemy 
who  was  at  all  numerous  could  pass.     These 
posts  were  directed  to  occupy  every  hamlet 
and  village  and  to  disarm  them.     To  accom- 
plish this  they  were  to  seize  the  cattle  which 
usually  grazed  together,  and  the  corn  stowed 
away  in  the  barns  ;    they  were  also  to  secure 
the  principal  inhabitants  ;    they  were  not  to 
restore  the  cattle  or  the  corn,  nor  to  release  the 
persons  taken  as  hostages,   till  the  peasants 
should    have    voluntarily    delivered    up    their 
arms."  ^     Stern  repressive  measures  perhaps, 
yet  little  severer  than  those  enforced  by  the 
British  in  South  Africa  a  century  afterwards 

^  Consulate  and  Empire. 


32  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

when   repressing   the    guerilla   tactics    of    the 
Boers. 

The  last  melancholy  stages  of  this  wretched 
business  were  mainly  concerned  with  the 
attempt  of  a  British  fleet  under  Admiral 
Sir  John  Warren  to  aid  the  lost  cause  of  the 
Chouans.  This  intervention  was  the  outcome 
of  a  mission  by  another  of  their  leaders, 
Puisaye,  to  Pitt,  who  consented  to  dispatch  a 
flotilla.  Meanwhile  a  large  sum  of  money  was 
collected  from  the  Empress  Catherine  of  Russia 
by  the  Comte  d'Artois,i  and  with  this  money 
and  the  convoy  of  Sir  John  Warren's  fleet 
Puisaye  sailed  from  the  Isle  of  Wight,  taking 
a  mixed  assortment  of  3000  Royalist  refugees. 
Another  squadron  went  to  the  Channel  Islands 
to  collect  the  large  bodies  of  emigres  who  had 
fled  thither.  From  the  outset  these  emigrant 
bands  looked  down  with  scorn  upon  the 
"  Breton  rabble,"  as  they  expressed  it,  with 
whom  they  were  expected  to  co-operate  in 
this  melancholy  enterprise,  backed  by  a  British 
fleet  and  Russian  gold.  Such  a  spirit  of 
dissension  would  have  proved  fatal  to  almost 
any  expedition — how  much  more  to  one  so 
ill-organised  and  equipped  with  such  a  multi- 

1  Afterwards  Charles  X  of  France. 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       33 

tude  of  counsellors.  The  co-operating  Chouans 
were,  we  are  informed,  attired  for  the  most 
part  in  green  coats  and  pantaloons  with  red 
waistcoats ;  but  Puisaye  carried  over  from 
England  some  20,000  scarlet  uniforms,  as  well 
as  stores,  muskets  and  powder.  The  Comte 
d'Artois  was  in  England,  intending  to  go  out 
to  Brittany  later  with  English  troops. 

The  rendezvous  for  Chouans  and  einigres  was 
the  Bay  of  Quiberon — presumably  a  good 
omen,  as  this  had  been  the  scene  of  Hawke's 
great  victory  over  the  French  fleet  on  a  lee- 
shore  in  1759.  As  luck  would  have  it,  Admiral 
Warren's  fleet  sighted  that  of  the  enemy  under 
Villaret-Joyeuse,  who  hurriedly  bore  away, 
having  no  desire  to  risk  a  repetition  of  Hawke's 
fine  feat  of  thirty  odd  years  before.  Accord- 
ingly, the  fleet  commenced  to  land  its  thou- 
sands of  motley  passengers  near  Quiberon  on 
June  25th,  1795.  Puisave's  command  was  at 
once  joined  by  a  contingent  that  rendered 
it  still  more  heterogeneous,  viz.  several  thou- 
sands of  the  wild  Chouans  under  their  various 
leaders.  (Among  these  was  the  celebrated 
Georges  Cadoudal,  who  perished  on  the  scaffold 
in  1804  for  his  participation  in  the  plot  for 
Bonaparte's    assassination  —  a    man    of    such 


34  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

marked  genius  for  war  and  diplomacy  that  the 
First  Consul  seriously  attempted  to  convert 
him  to  other  ideals,  remarking,  "  If  only  I 
had  the  moulding  of  that  character  !  "  But 
Cadoudal  was  not  to  be  bought  over.)  "  Along 
with  the  Chouans  came  troops  of  peasants, 
crying  Vive  le  Roi  !  and  bringing  in  abundance 
of  fresh  eggs,  poultry,  etc.  Puisaye  was 
delighted,  and  felt  confident  that  all  Brittany 
was  ready  to  rise.  But  this  delusion  was  soon 
dissipated.  The  emigrants,  accustomed  to 
regular  armies,  looked  with  contempt  on  these 
wild  and  ragged  bands,  and  they  on  their  part 
were  not  restrained,  on  the  landing  of  the  arms 
and  uniforms,  from  seizing  and  carrying  them 
off,  without  much  exertion  on  the  part  of 
Puisaye.  There  was  danger  of  bloodshed.  At 
length,  in  about  a  couple  of  days  10,000  of 
them  were  put  into  red  coats  and  furnished 
with  muskets.  But  fatal  dissensions  prevented 
all  operations."  The  Bishop  of  D61  accom- 
panied the  expedition  as  Legate  of  the  Pope. 
The  Comte  d'Hervilly,  who  led  the  emigres^ 
disputed  the  chief  command  of  the  "  army  " 
with  the  almost  equally  pusillanimous  Puisaye, 
and  they  childishly  referred  the  matter  to  the 
Comte  d'Artois  in  London.    This  in  the  teeth 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       35 

of  the  enemy  too  !  For  a  Republican  garrison 
held  Fort  Penthievre  in  Quiberon  Bay  ;  but, 
thanks  to  the  admirable  aid  of  Sir  John  Warren, 
whose  ships  maintained  a  hot  bombardment 
from  the  seaward  side,  this  post  was  smartly 
carried  by  assault  on  July  3rd.  In  their  delight 
at  this  preliminary  success,  Puisaye  and  d'Her- 
villy  sent  hurriedly  to  call  up  Charette,  Stofflet, 
and  the  other  guerilla  chiefs. 

Now  General  Hoche,  with  the  plenary  powers 
invested  in  him  by  the  National  Assembly, 
was  by  way  of  abandoning  his  policy  of 
"  pacification  "  towards  the  Chouans.  For 
one  thing  Hoche,  whose  head-quarters  were 
established  about  Auray  with  powerful  posts 
spread  all  over  the  Breton  country,  had  in  his 
camp  two  of  those  "  Extraordinary  Com- 
missioners "  whom  the  Convention  were  so  fond 
of  sending  to  stimulate  (?)  their  Generals  and 
Admirals — as  they  had  previously,  and  with 
notably  disastrous  results,  in  Howe's  battle 
of  the  "  Glorious  First  of  June  "  and  else- 
where. To  these  gentlemen's  representations 
Hoche  responded  that  all  he  desired  was  for 
government  to  support  him  with  the  reinforce- 
ments and  supplies  they  had  promised  him — ■ 
he  would  do  the  rest.    And  he  was  as  good  as 


36  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

his  word.  The  Bretons  did  not  rise  en  masse 
in  support  of  the  Chouans  and  emigres,  as  had 
been  hoped  and  anticipated  by  the  latter,  and 
on  July  7th  Hoche  made  a  vigorous  counter- 
attack. The  upshot  was  what  might  have  been 
expected  from  the  miserable  tactics  of  the 
Royalist  mob — it  was  little  better — from  their 
rancorous  bickerings,  and  from  their  having 
to  carry  their  women  and  children  with  them 
in  all  their  movements.  The  fighting  that 
ensued  was  prolonged  and  desperate,  but  it 
could  end  only  in  one  way. 

Hoche's  immediate  objective  was  the  re- 
capture of  Fort  Penthievre.  He  concentrated 
a  withering  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  upon 
the  mixed-up  mass  of  his  valiant  but  dis- 
orderly opponents,  who  rapidly  became  wedged 
in  between  the  isthmus  and  the  mainland. 
It  is  estimated  that  they  must  have  numbered 
at  least  20,000,  and  an  eye-witness  stated  that 
only  a  steady  fire  maintained  from  the  boats 
of  Sir  John  Warren's  fleet  saved  them  from 
surrendering  at  discretion  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  Republicans.  But  the  inevitable  catas- 
trophe was  only  delayed,  not  averted. 

In  the  midst  of  this  pandemonium — the 
patriots  being  steadily  pressed  back  towards 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       37 

the  sea — another  British  squadron  came  in 
on  July  15th,  bringing  some  11,000  reinforce- 
ments from  the  Elbe  led  by  the  Comte  de 
Sombreuil.  In  some  sense  encouraged  by  this 
arrival,  Puisaye  and  his  allies  essayed  a  com- 
bined frontal  and  flank  attack  upon  the  hosts 
of  Hoche.  It  did  not  succeed.  They  lost 
many  of  their  guns  in  the  sand,  and  further 
to  complicate  a  desperate  situation  the  Chouan 
garrison  of  the  captured  Fort  Penthievre  basely 
turned  renegade  and,  not  content  with  be- 
traying the  place  to  Hoche,  actually  assisted 
in  shooting  a  few  of  their  number  who  refused 
to  participate  in  the  betrayal  !  This  may 
be  said  to  have  given  the  coup  de  grace  to  the 
wretched  enterprise.  Admiral  Warren,  who 
behaved  splendidly  under  what  must  have 
been  the  most  trying  and  thankless  conditions 
that  could  be  imposed  on  a  British  tar, 
managed  to  get  about  16,000  of  the  fugitives 
on  board  his  fleet,  much  hampered  in  the 
operation  by  their  impatience  and  the  stormy 
weather.  Meanwhile,  the  young  and  gifted 
Comte  de  Sombreuil  remained  on  shore  too 
long  and  was  surrounded.  He  gave  up  his 
sword  on  being  solemnly  promised  his  life, 
but — to  Hoche's  eternal  dishonour  and  infamy 


38  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

be  it  recorded — this  pledge  was  utterly  dis- 
regarded. Not  only  the  Comte  himself,  but 
the  venerable  Bishop  of  D61  and  all  the  cap- 
tured officers,  were  at  once  put  to  death  by 
being  shot  on  the  seashore.  As  for  his 
numerous  prisoners  of  the  rank  and  file,  the 
Republican  commander  compelled  them  to 
enroll  themselves  under  the  tricolour. 

At  their  own  request,  Sir  John  Warren 
put  his  Chouan  passengers  on  shore  again 
on  another  part  of  the  coast,  and  himself 
waited  in  the  vicinity  for  yet  another  English 
squadron,  which  was  to  bring  4000  British 
soldiers  intended  for  co-operation  in  a  descent 
upon  the  already  blood-drenched  La  Vendee. 
It  was  destined  never  to  materialise.  The 
brave  Charette's  old  stronghold,  I'lle  Nour- 
montier,  was  found  garrisoned  by  no  fewer 
than  15,000  Republican  troops,  so  the  English 
disembarked  on  the  neighbouring  lie  d'Yeu. 
The  Comte  d'Artois  was  daily  expected  from 
England,  and  much  was  hoped  from  the  pre- 
sence in  person  of  the  head  of  the  Orleanist 
party.  When  he  did  arrive,  however,  Charles 
behaved  like  the  poltroon  he  undoubtedly  was. 
The  mere  sound  of  the  cannonading  was  enough 
to  decide  him  against  landing  at  all.     It  was 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       39 

characteristic  of  the  man  who  in  later  life 
played  such  a  sorry  part  as  Charles  X  of  France. 
His  efforts  in  England  only  had  the  effect  of 
further  embittering  public  opinion  in  republi- 
can France. 

Well  might  poor  Charette  wring  his  hands 
and  bitterly  exclaim,  "  We  are  lost — to-day 
I  have  15,000  men  with  me,  to-morrow  I 
shall  not  have  five  hundred  !  " 

And  indeed,  now  that  it  was  perfectly  obvious 
the  Comte  d'Artois  intended  to  play  the 
coward,  the  Royalist  forces  deserted  in  great 
numbers.  By  this  time  it  was  October,  and 
the  English  fleets  made  their  preparations  for 
returning  home,  where  they  had  a  melancholy 
tale  to  tell.  The  cause  was  lost.  The  popula- 
tion of  La  Vendee  had  been  reduced  by 
one-fifth :  the  once  fair  territory  had  become 
a  desolate  and  blackened  wilderness.  Hoche's 
own  estimate  of  a  hundred  thousand  lives  is 
by  no  means  an  exaggeration  of  the  cost  to 
France  of  this  civil  war  in  her  maritime 
provinces. 

There  is  little  more  to  tell  save  the  fate  of 
the  surviving  leaders.  In  the  early  days  of 
1796  the  brave  Stofflet  sustained  a  final  defeat 
and  became  a  fugitive.    His  betrayal  followed, 


40  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

and  on  February  26th  he  and  four  of  his  officers 
were  put  to  death  at  Angers.  Almost  exactly 
a  month  afterwards  followed  the  capture  of 
Francis  Charette  de  la  Cointre,  and  on  March 
29th  he  also  was  summarily  shot  at  Nantes.  In 
Napoleon's  opinion,  as  expressed  to  the  gossipy 
Las  Casas  at  St.  Helena,  Charette  was  "  the 
only  great  character  "  produced  by  the  troubles 
in  La  Vendee.  He  was,  said  the  Emperor, 
"  the  true  hero  of  that  remarkable  episode  of 
our  Revolution  which,  if  it  presented  great 
misfortunes,  at  least  did  not  sacrifice  our 
glory.  In  the  wars  of  La  Vendee  Frenchmen 
destroyed  each  other,  but  they  did  not  degrade 
themselves.  They  received  aid  from  foreigners, 
but  they  did  not  stoop  to  the  disgrace  of 
marching  under  their  banners  and  receiving 
daily  pay  for  merely  executing  their  com- 
mands. Yes,"  he  repeated,  "  Charette  im- 
pressed me  with  the  idea  of  a  great  character. 
I  observed  that  he  on  several  occasions  acted 
with  uncommon  energy  and  intrepidity  ;  he 
betrayed  genius."  The  Emperor  was  careful 
to  add  that  it  was  at  his  own  suggestion  that 
Lamarque  was  sent  to  La  Vendee  in  1815  to 
quell  a  new  rising,  his  efforts  turning  out  emi- 
nently successful. 


30 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE        41 

Charette  had  started  his  career  on  the  sea, 
and  had  encountered  some, rare  perils  even 
before  the  Revolution.  On  one  occasion, 
when  serving  on  a  cutter  which  was  nearly 
wrecked  not  far  from  Brest,  he  killed  one  of 
the  seamen  in  order  to  encourage  the  others 
to  save  the  ship.  Las  Casas  naively  adds  that 
"  this  dreadful  example  had  the  desired  effect." 
The  crew  of  the  little  cutter  solemnly  vowed 
that  if  they  were  saved  they  would  go  in  their 
shirts,  barefooted,  carrying  tapers  to  Our 
Lady  of  Recouvrance  at  Brest — a  vow  which 
they  religiously  fulfilled. 


More  like  a  piece  of  sheer  romanticism 
than  a  hard  fact  of  modern  history,  is  the 
remarkable  circumstance — with  its  so  tragic 
sequel — that  in  1813  the  Comte  de  la  Roche- 
jaquelein's  brother  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  fresh  insurrection  in  La  Vendee.  The 
times  were  ripe  for  a  recrudescence  of  the 
rising  that  had  ended  in  the  death  of  his 
chivalrous  brother  nineteen  years  before.  The 
signal  disaster  to  Napoleon's  arms  on  the 
frozen  steppes  of  Russia  had  been  the  prelude 
to  a  banding  together  of  the  nations  against 


42  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

the  long  tyranny  of  his  power.  Though 
cowed  by  the  tactics  employed  by  Hoche  to 
subdue  them,  the  Vendeans  had  ever  remained 
ready  for  revolt,  and  had  been  by  no  means 
quiescent  during  the  days  of  the  Consulate 
and  the  Empire.  They  had,  indeed,  broken 
out  again  in  1799,  when  a  partial  and  ill- 
organised  rising  had  not  amounted  to  much. 
But  now  they  perceived  their  chance  and 
took  it. 

As  he  had  done  in  the  case  of  Georges 
Cadoudal,  Napoleon  made  determined  but 
fruitless  efforts  to  induce  this  kinsman  of  the 
dead  La  Rochejaquelein,  and  representative 
of  the  haute  noblesse,  to  enter  the  Imperial 
service.  Louis  de  Verger,  Marquis  de  la  Roche- 
jaquelein, was  younger  by  several  years  than 
his  brother  Henri.  As  a  lad  he  had  passed 
over  into  England  to  escape  the  horrors  of 
the  Revolution,  but  returning  to  France  in 
1801,  bided  his  time  until  the  waning 
of  Napoleon's  star.  Hostile  operations  in 
Brittany  in  1813  were  only  of  a  tentative 
character,  but  in  the  ensuing  spring,  after  the 
Restoration,  Louis  XVIII  gave  to  the  Marquis, 
in  consideration  of  his  services  to  the  Bourbon 
cause,  command  of  the  forces  in  La  Vendee. 


BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE       43 

He  was  accompanied  by  his  accomplished 
wife  the  Marquise  Marie-Louise  Victoire,  who 
witnessed  much  of  the  actual  fighting  that 
ensued,  and  subsequently  embodied  the  results 
of  her  observations  in  a  work  of  great  interest 
and  value.  ^ 

On  the  return  of  Napoleon  from  Elba, 
La  Rochejaquelein  proceeded  to  organise  his 
Vendean  forces  on  so  sound  a  basis  that  the 
Emperor  felt  compelled  to  dispatch  against 
them  a  powerful  corps  d'annee  commanded 
by  Generals  Lamarque  and  Travot.  A  new 
race  of  local  leaders  had  sprung  up  among  the 
Chouans  since  their  dispersal  by  Hoche,  and 
the  names  of  Suzannet,  Antichamp,  and  Sapi- 
neau  are  prominent  in  the  La  Vendee  campaign 
of  1815.  Several  engagements  were  fought 
with  varying  result,  but  generally  in  favour 
of  the  Imperial  troops,  who  necessarily  pre- 
ponderated in  numbers  and  equipment. 

On  June  4th — exactly  a  fortnight  before 
Waterloo — Louis  Rochejaquelein  led  his  motley 
array  into  battle  for  the  last  time,  at  Pont-des- 
Mathis.  The  outcome  was  disastrous.  Eventu- 
ally the  Royalist  leaders  of  these  peasant 
"  insurgents  "  capitulated  simply  because  they 

^  Me  moires :  Bordeaux.     1816. 


44  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

did  not  know  that  Waterloo  had  been  fought 
and  won  and  the  fate  of  Napoleon  irrevocably 
sealed. 

The  "butcher's  bill"  of  the  long  and 
protracted  civil  strife  in  La  Vendee  was  simply 
appalling.  It  is  estimated  that  a  rough  total 
of  300,000  men,  18,000  women,  and  22,000 
children  were  killed  in  battle,  put  to  death,  or 
perished  in  some  manner  connected  with  the 
revolt,  or  series  of  revolts,  of  the  Royalist 
guerillas. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   TYROL  :    HOFER — SPECKBACIIER — 
HASPINGER 

The  position  of  European  affairs  at  the 
beginning  of  1809  was  very  interesting  and 
highly  critical.  Napoleon  had  made  himself 
master  and  dictator  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
Continent  save  Russia.  In  Spain  his  armies 
had  driven  out  the  British  expeditionary 
force  under  Sir  John  Moore,  Prussia  was  at 
his  feet  and  only  Austria  was  "  restive." 
It  was,  in  fact,  urgent  intelligence  from  Vienna 
that  caused  the  Emperor  to  relinquish  the 
pursuit  of  Sir  John  Moore  to  Marshal  Soult, 
while  he  hurried  back  to  Paris  to  confront 
the  new  danger  that  threatened.  A  few  weeks 
later  (April,  1809)  found  him  in  the  field, 
opposing  the  advance  into  Bavaria  of  the 
powerful  army  of  the  Archduke  Charles. 

That  exquisitely  beautiful  holiday-land  of 
the  Austrian  Empire,  the  Tyrol,  had  during 
the  Middle  Ages  been  a  mutinous  appanage 

45 


46  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

of  Bavaria,  but  towards  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  had  been  handed  over  to 
the  Duke  of  Austria.  At  the  disposal  of  the 
Hapsburgs  it  had  remained  ever  since  until 
1806  (a  French  army  under  Joubert  attempted 
its  invasion  in  1797  but  was  repulsed  with 
slaughter,  and  in  1805  Marshal  Ney  made  a 
tentative  attempt),  when  it  pleased  Napoleon, 
in  his  "  rearrangement  "  of  the  map  of  Europe 
after  his  smashing  of  the  power  of  Prussia 
and  Austria,  to  give  it  back  to  Bavaria.  This 
high-handed  act  was  bitterly  resented  by  the 
hardy  and  patriotic  mountaineers  of  the  Tyrol, 
then  perhaps  numbering  about  half  a  million 
souls.  Staunch  adherents  to  the  Catholic 
faith,  they  had  for  centuries  lived  contentedly 
enough  under  the  dominion  of  Austria,  and 
the  weakness  of  their  vacillating  Emperor, 
Francis  II,  in  relinquishing  the  Tyrol  was  a 
bitter  blow  to  this  fine  people.  They  beheld 
their  lovely  country,  with  its  enchanting 
ranges  of  the  Alps  and  its  verdant  valleys 
watered  by  the  clear  streams  of  the  Inn  and 
Adige,  handed  over  to  the  hated  Bavarians 
with  a  dramatic  suddenness.  An  army  of 
occupation  marched  in,  and  remonstrances 
addressed    to    Vienna    availed    not,    for    the 


THE    TYROL  47 

Hapsburg  power  was  crippled.  Moreover, 
some  shocking  atrocities  were  perpetrated 
by  the  Bavarian  soldiers.  But  the  furious 
peasantry  bided  their  time,  and  their  voice 
was  not  silent  even  if  they  had  to  "  talk  with 
it  among  themselves."  Their  opportunity 
arrived  when,  as  noted  above,  Austria  declared 
war  on  France  in  the  spring  of  1809  and  the 
Archduke  marched  his  army  into  Bavaria. 

From  whom  but  among  themselves  should 
the  leaders  of  the  Tyrolese  people  be  chosen 
in  their  heroic  struggle  with  the  mighty  power 
of  Napoleon  ?  These  leaders,  or  at  all  events 
the  three  who  counted  most,  were  Hofer, 
Speckbacher,  and  Haspinger — a  noble  trio 
indeed.  Andreas  Hofer  was  the  host  of  the 
"  Sand  "  at  Passeyr  (it  is  curious  how  many 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Tyrolese  were  innkeepers), 
whilst  Joseph  Speckbacher  was  a  well-to-do 
peasant  of  Rinn,  and  Joachim  Haspinger 
("  The  Redbeard  ")  a  Capuchin  priest  !  It 
is  hard  to  decide  which  of  this  dauntless  three 
may  have  been  the  most  picturesque  per- 
sonality, but  here  is  an  attractive  pen-picture 
of  Hofer  : 

"  He  was  a  figure  as  striking  as  ever  dis- 
played itself  in  mountain  warfare.    He  was  of 


48  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

a  Herculean  form,  and  remarkably  handsome. 
He  wore  a  low-crowned,  broad-brimmed,  black 
Tyrolean  hat,  ornamented  with  green  ribands 
and  the  feathers  of  the  capercailzie  ;  his  broad 
chest  was  covered  with  a  red  waistcoat,  across 
which  green  braces,  a  hand  in  breadth,  upheld 
black  chamois-leather  breeches  ;  his  knees 
were  bare,  but  his  well-developed  calves  were 
covered  with  red  stockings  ;  a  broad,  black 
leathern  girdle  clasped  his  muscular  form ; 
over  all  was  thrown  a  short  green  coat,  without 
buttons.  His  long,  brown  beard,  which  fell  in 
rich  curls  on  to  his  chest,  added  dignity  to  his 
appearance  ;  his  full,  broad  countenance  was 
expressive  of  good-humour  and  honesty  ;  his 
small  penetrating  eyes  sparkled  with  vivacity. 
Hofer  traded  in  wine,  corn  and  horses,  and 
was  well  known  and  esteemed  as  far  as  the 
Italian  frontier.  He  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Diet  of  Innsbruck,  and  had  fought,  as 
a  captain  of  a  rifle  corps,  against  the  French. 
He  was,  in  domestic  life,  open,  honest,  pious, 
and  yet  rather  fond  of  the  hilarity  of  company 
over  a  glass  of  wine.  He  might  often  be  seen 
during  the  war  with  a  sword  in  one  hand  and  a 
bottle  in  the  other."  Hofer's  humble  inn 
"  On  the  Sand  "  may  yet  be  seen.     He  and 


THE    TYROL  49 

Speckbacher  were  both  about  forty  years  of 
age.  Martin  Teimer,  some  ten  years  younger, 
was  another  notable  leader. 

On  the  declaration  of  hostilities  by  Austria 
against  France,  Hofer  hastened  to  Vienna, 
where  he  received  a  more  than  cordial  reception 
from  the  Emperor  Francis,  and  submitted  a 
plan  of  campaign  for  defending  the  Tyrol 
which  was  cordially  approved.  The  gallant 
Andreas  hurried  back  to  his  mountain  home 
as  the  accredited  commander-in-chief  of  his 
countrymen.  Secrecy  was,  of  course,  a  first 
essential,  for  French  bayonets  held  Innsbruck, 
the  capital.  A  Bavarian  force,  commanded  by 
General  Von  Wrede,  occupied  Brixen  in  the 
Tyrol,  and  spies  abounded.  Therefore  a  code 
of  secret  signals  was  introduced  by  the 
burghers,  and  on  a  memorable  day — April  9th, 
1809 — wooden  planks  bearing  tiny  red  flags 
might  have  been  seen  floating  down  the  River 
Inn,  whilst  the  ingenious  if  simple  plan  of 
casting  sawdust  into  the  smaller  rivers  was 
seen  and  understood  to  mean  the  signal  for  a 
general  uprising.  Addressing  several  thousands 
of  the  assembled  peasants  in  an  impassioned 
speech,  Hofer  said  :  "  When  you  have  carved 
a  wooden  figure,  may  you  take  it  to  Vienna 


50  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

and  sell  it  ?  Is  that  liberty  ?  You  are 
Tyrolese — at  least,  your  fathers  called  them- 
selves so,  now  you  have  to  call  yourselves 
Bavarians.  Our  old  Castle  of  Tyrol  has  been 
demolished  :  does  that  content  you  ?  If 
you  raise  three  ears  of  maize,  they  demand 
two  from  you  :  do  you  call  that  prosperity  ? 
But  there  is  a  Providence,  and  it  has  been 
revealed  to  me  that  if  we  plan  to  take  our 
revenge  we  shall  have  help.  Up  then,  and  at 
these  Bavarians  !  Tear  your  foes,  aye,  with 
your  teeth,  so  long  as  they  stand  up  ;  but 
when  they  kneel  pardon  them  !  " 

Now  opens  one  of  the  most  thrilling  chapters 
in  the  story  of  Guerilla  warfare.  The  pre- 
cipitous passes  and  unfathomable  chasms  of 
the  Tyrol  lent  themselves  peculiarly  to  that 
favourite  trick  of  the  irregular  fighter — the 
ruse  of  the  ambuscade — and  its  effect  was  all 
the  more  sensational  and  effective  by  reason 
of  Wrede's  crass  ignorance  of  the  ways  of 
mountain  fighting.  It  commenced  when  a 
detachment  of  sappers,  sent  by  the  Bavarian 
commander  to  destroy  the  bridges  whereby 
an  Austrian  force  might  enter  the  country 
over  the  River  Rienz,  were  decimated  by  a 
deadly  fusillade  from  an  unseen  body  of  picked 


THE    TYROL  51 

marksmen  who  lay  concealed  in  the  pine-clad 
peaks.  Wrede's  sappers  fled  in  dismay,  and 
to  avenge  this  act  of  audacity  by  the  peasantry 
— whom  he  supposed  he  would  not  have  the 
smallest  difficulty  in  chastising  and  dispersing, 
for  many  of  them  had  only  "  cudgels  "  and 
"  flails  " — he  advanced  a  few  days  later  at 
the  head  of  a  powerful  Franco-Bavarian  corps 
of  all  arms  of  the  service.  The  same  concealed 
tactics  as  before  were  adopted  by  the  Tyrolese, 
who  at  this  point  were  led  by  Peter  Kemnater 
(another  innkeeper,  by  the  way),  a  youngster 
of  twenty-two.  So  terrible  was  the  fire  con- 
centrated upon  them  by  their  hidden  foes  that 
Wrede's  troops  fled  wildly  and  did  not  stop 
until  they  reached  Innsbriick.  Their  artillery 
was  abandoned  to  the  delighted  peasants,  who 
flung  it — and,  I  am  afraid,  the  gunners  along 
with  it,  for  this  war  was  literally  "  to  the 
knife  " — into  the  raging  torrent  below. 

Albeit  the  start  of  his  campaign  had  been 
scarcely  auspicious,  Wrede  was  in  such  pre- 
ponderating force  that  he  determined  on  a 
fresh  attempt.  This  time  his  route  lay  by  the 
defile  of  Brixen,  which  the  invading  force 
entered  (April  10th,  1809)  with  all  the  non- 
chalance of  conquerors.    ""  In  this  pass,"  says 


52  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

a  contemporary  writer,  "  the  inhabitants  had 
suspended  huge  trunks  of  trees  and  pieces  of 
rock  on  the  faces  of  the  precipices,  by  cords 
and  ropes  of  hay  and  straw.  As  the  French 
and  Bavarians  advanced  into  the  pass  ten 
thousand  strong,  they  found  tremendous  rocks 
overhanging  their  heads,  and  a  rapid  torrent 
rushing  along  below.  They  heard  no  sound 
but  of  the  screaming  eagles  and  the  roar  of 
waters  ;  but  all  at  once  a  man's  voice  was 
heard  calling  across  the  ravine,  "  Shall  we 
begin  ?  "  "  No  "  was  returned  in  an  authori- 
tative tone.  The  Bavarian  battalion  halted, 
and  sent  to  the  general  for  orders,  when 
suddenly  was  heard  the  cry,  "  In  the  name 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  cut  all  loose  !  "  At  the 
same  moment  rocks  and  trunks  of  trees  came 
thundering  down  the  precipices  on  their  heads, 
and  the  crack  of  a  thousand  rifles  mingled 
in  the  bellowing  din.  This  attack  was  on  the 
whole  line  at  once  ;  there  was  no  room  to 
avoid  the  descending  death  ;  and  two-thirds 
of  the  force  lay  prostrated  in  the  defile." 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  not  many  of  the 
10,000  men  who  entered  the  pass  escaped  with 
their  lives,  for  the  Tyrolese  took  few  prisoners. 
It  was  the  war  of  an  entire  populace,  anima- 


THE   AMBUSH   AT  BRIXEN 


THE    TYROL  53 

ted  by  religious  fervour  and  love  of  country, 
against  a  common  foe,  and  the  peasants  were 
naturally  elated  at  such  a  substantial  success. 
Meanwhile,  what  of  the  brave  Hofer  himself  ? 
He  had  arranged  with  his  colleague  Speck- 
bacher  that  while  the  latter  looked  to  the 
safety  of  the  lower  valley  of  the  Inn,  he  himself 
should  defend  the  approaches  to  Passeyr. 
Surely  never  was  country  so  well  adapted  for 
defence,  and  never  did  an  "  invader  "  play  so 
innocently  into  his  enemy's  hands  !  On  April 
11th,  Hofer's  commando  attacked  a  Bavarian 
contingent  under  Col.  Barenklau,  who  had 
posted  himself  on  the  plateau  known  as 
Sterzinger  Moss.  The  Bavarians  formed  in 
square,  a  formation  which  Hofer — who  sat 
watching  the  contest  "  like  Moses  on  a  hill 
above  " — found  it  impossible  to  pierce  until 
he  hit  upon  a  happy  device.  This  was  nothing 
less  than  the  sending  forward  of  some  loads  of 
hay  in  ox-waggons  which  covered  the  advance 
of  his  riflemen.  The  first  vehicle  was  driven 
by  a  brave  little  girl — women  frequently 
figured  in  the  war  in  the  Tyrol — who,  heedless 
of  the  flying  bullets,  continued  to  cry,  "  On, 
on  !  who  cares  for  such  Bavarian  dumplings  ?  " 
This    heroine    was    uninjured,    and    the    ruse 


54  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

succeeded    to    admiration,    the    square    being 
penetrated  and  the  enemy  dispersed. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Tyrol,  Speckbacher 
had  called  his  countrymen  to  arms  to  some 
purpose  and  beacon  fires  blazed  everywhere. 
By  a  daring  ruse  de  guerre  he  possessed  himself 
of  the  fortress  of  Hall,  eight  miles  from 
Innsbruck,  with  its  Bavarian  garrison  400 
strong,  the  watchfires  of  the  attackers  being 
kept  burning  on  one  side  of  the  town  while  the 
stormers  stole  quietly  up  to  the  gate  on  the 
opposite  side.  Delighted  at  the  success  of  his 
brilliant  coup,  Speckbacher  moved  swiftly 
upon  the  Tyrolese  capital.  The  formidable 
Bavarian  garrison  of  Innsbriick  had  General 
Kinkell  as  Commandant,  and  his  second  in 
command  was  a  Colonel  Dittfiirt  who,  during 
the  preceding  winter,  had  been  guilty  of  wicked 
atrocities  on  the  peasantry.  Speckbacher's 
followers  acted  with  such  lightning  rapidity 
that  the  Bavarian  resistance  seemed  paralysed, 
notwithstanding  the  strength  of  the  position. 
They  were  little  used  to  guerilla  tactics,  yet 
the  wing  of  the  garrison  under  the  notorious 
Dittfurt  made  a  desperate  resistance,  that 
officer  knowing  he  would  receive  short  shrift 
if  captured.    Presently  he  was  shot  down,  and 


THE    TYROL  55 

a  Tyrolese  detachment  under  Teimer  from  the 
other  side  of  the  Inn  coming  in  to  co-operate, 
the  townsmen  made  a  useful  diversion  in 
support  of  the  attackers.  Well  assured  that 
further  resistance  was  by  this  time  useless, 
General  Kinkell  surrendered  the  town  and 
garrison  at  discretion. 

It  had  taken  less  than  a  week  for  these 
concerted  operations  by  the  two  liberation 
leaders  to  be  brought  to  a  triumphant  issue. 
The  "  crowning  mercy "  was  reserved  for 
Hofer,  who,  directly  he  was  advised  of  the 
fall  of  Innsbruck,  fell  upon  Wrede's  Franco- 
Bavarian  army  with  the  utmost  fury. 

Associated  with  Von  Wrede  in  the  command 
of  this  dispirited  and  half-demoralised  force 
was  General  Brisson,  who  led  the  French 
contingent.  Hofer  came  up  with  them  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Sterzing,  and,  in  the  result, 
a  surrender  almost  as  complete  as  that  of 
Napoleon's  General  Dupont  in  Spain  the  pre- 
vious year  took  place.  It  is  doubtful  whether, 
in  the  whole  history  of  this  class  of  warfare, 
there  has  ever  been  a  more  thorough  dis- 
comfiture. In  addition  to  all  the  guns,  horses 
and  material  of  war,  the  two  leading  general 
officers,  ten  staff- officers,  upwards  of  a  hundred 


56  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

lesser  officers,  6000  infantry  with  seven  guns 
and  800  horses  and  1000  cavalry,  became  the 
prizes  of  the  victors.  Moreover,  the  French 
soldiers  participating  in  this  capitulation  in- 
cluded some  of  the  Emperor's  best  troops. 
Small  wonder  if  the  pious  Tyrolese  with  thank- 
ful hearts  prostrated  themselves  in  prayer  to 
their  Saviour  and  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Hofer 
promptly  marched  his  prisoners  down  to 
Innsbruck  and  joined  hands  with  Speckbacher  ; 
between  them  they  had  taken  many  thousands 
of  prisoners.  Hofer  was  appropriately  named 
Governor  of  the  Tyrol.  He  speedily  replaced 
the  great  number  of  Bavarian  officials  who 
held  public  appointments,  but  all  of  these 
men,  we  are  told,  were  treated  with  the 
utmost  humanity  save  a  tax-gatherer  who  had 
brutally  sworn  to  "  grind  the  people  till  they 
ate  hay  " — and  he  was  punished  by  being 
made  to  digest  (?)  a  sample  of  his  own  pre- 
scription. 

There  were  many  picturesque  and  striking 
incidents.  The  Imperial  eagles  of  Austria 
were  brought  out,  and  with  joyful  tears  one 
Tyrolean  greybeard  greeted  them  with  the 
words :  "  Your  feathers  are  grown  again,  old 
tail."    In  order  to  spare  the  life  of  a  Bavarian 


THE    TYROL  57 

officer,  a  plucky  peasant  girl  pretended  to  be 
his  betrothed.  The  mortally  wounded  Colonel 
Dittfiirt,  who  lay  cursing  and  half-delirious, 
suddenly  exclaimed  :  "  Who  led  your  forces 
yesterday  ?  "  "  Nobody  at  all,"  was  the 
reply,  "  each  fought  as  best  he  knew  how  for 
his  Emperor  and  Fatherland."  "  That's  a 
lie,"  said  the  dying  man,  "  I  saw  him  dis- 
tinctly ;  he  was  riding  a  white  horse."  It  was 
immediately  decided  that  St.  James,  Inns- 
bruck's patron  Saint,  had  fought  for  the  cause 
of  freedom  on  that  glorious  day. 

The  Austrians  do  not  come  well  out  of  this 
business  at  all.  By  not  so  much  as  one  man  or 
gun  had  they  assisted  the  gallant  fellows  who 
in  a  few  brief  brilliant  days  had  cleared  their 
loved  homeland  of  the  alien  foe.  Yet,  now  that 
the  work  was  done  for  them  and  the  enemy 
routed,  Field-Marshal  Von  Chasteler  and  the 
Baron  Von  Hormayr  arrived  on  the  scene,  the 
one  to  administer  the  military  and  the  other 
the  civil  government  of  the  Tyrol.  Certainly 
it  was  good  to  be  restored  to  the  well-loved 
rule  of  Austria,  but  nothing  could  have  ex- 
ceeded the  tactlessness — to  put  it  mildly — of 
the  officials  of  that  Power.  One  General 
officer  (Marschall)  deemed  it  an  indignity  to 


58  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

dine  at  the  same  table  with  Hofer,  and  very 
generally  the  Austrians  conducted  themselves 
with  an  air  of  swaggering  superiority  towards 
the  brave  men  who,  all  unaided,  had  fought 
the  good  fight.  It  is  satisfactory  to  add  that 
the  "  superior "  General  Marschall  was  re- 
moved in  favour  of  Count  Leiningen,  a  prompt 
and  resourceful  officer.  Napoleon,  in  his 
frantic  rage,  took  the  extraordinary  step  of 
declaring  "  one  Chasteler,  calling  himself  a 
General  in  the  Austrian  service,"  an  outlaw. 

There  was  little  breathing  space  for  the 
allies.  Napoleon,  astounded  at  the  splendid 
successes  gained  by  the  peasants,  detached  a 
fresh  and  formidable  force  of  invasion,  and 
intelligence  was  brought  into  the  patriots' 
camp  that  this  army,  under  Generals  Lemoine 
and  Baraguay  d'Hilliers,  had  entered  the 
Tyrol  by  way  of  Trient. 

In  the  engagement  that  ensued,  Tyrolese 
and  Austrian  for  the  first  time  fought  shoulder 
to  shoulder.  Marshal  von  Chasteler  marched 
in  person  with  Hofer,  and  by  a  happy  combi- 
nation of  well-concerted  movements  they 
secured  another  complete  victory.  In  this 
battle  the  Count  Leiningen  was  nearly  cap- 
tured, but  rescued  by  Hofer  at  the  risk  of  his 


THE    TYROL  59 

own  life.  The  General  Baraguay  d'Hilliers, 
who  was  associated  with  the  French  command, 
subsequently  perished  during  the  campaign  of 
Russia,  but  his  son  rose  to  be  a  Marshal  of 
the  Empire  under  Napoleon  III. 

After  the  "  check  to  the  Grand  Army  "  at 
the  battle  of  Aspern-Essling,  the  Emperor 
Francis  sent  word  into  the  Tyrol  that  nothing 
would  ever  induce  him  to  desert  his  well-loved 
Tyroleans,  and  that  he  would  conclude  no 
treaty  in  which  they  did  not  participate. 
All  this  was  well  enough  and  heartening 
enough,  and  all  through  those  long  spring  days 
and  nights  did  Hofer  and  his  coadjutors — 
Speckbacher,  the  devoted  soldier-priest  Has- 
pinger,  and  Schenk,  the  landlord  of  the 
"  Krug " — fight  and  fight  again  the  hosts 
of  their  relentless  enemies,  French,  Saxons, 
Bavarians. 

Napoleon  was  now  enabled  to  detach  one 
of  the  ablest  of  his  Marshals,  Lefebvre — who 
had  been  created  Duke  of  Dantzig  for  his 
reduction  of  that  great  fortress  in  1807 — at 
the  head  of  a  corps  of  French  and  Saxons,  no 
less  than  40,000  strong.  He  made  short  work 
of  Chasteler's  Austrians  at  Worgl,  and  these 
presently  abandoned  the  unhappy  country  to 


60  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

its  fate.  Yet  even  the  fiery  Lefebvre  with  all 
his  resources  could  not  make  headway  against 
the  ubiquitous  Hofer. 

Altogether  Innsbruck  changed  hands  three 
times  in  four  months.  Marshal  Lefebvre 
entered  the  place  on  May  19th,  but  a  few  days 
later  left  the  conduct  of  affairs  there  to  a 
veteran  subordinate,  General  Deroy.  On  May 
29th  Hofer  and  Speckbacher,  at  the  head  of 
18,000  Tyrolese,  attacked  Deroy's  12,000.  In 
the  thick  of  the  fray  a  diversion  was  caused 
by  a  brave  Tyrolean  girl  who  was  serving  out 
wine  to  the  men  from  a  cask.  A  bullet  passed 
right  through  the  cask,  when  the  girl,  stopping 
the  holes  with  her  fingers,  cried,  "  Now  then, 
put  your  mouths  to  the  holes  and  drink  while 
you  can."  On  Teimer  coming  up  with  a  co- 
operating force,  General  Deroy  was  glad  to 
march  away  to  the  Bavarian  frontier  under 
cover  of  night,  and  the  peasant  forces  re- 
possessed themselves  of  Innsbruck.  The  month 
of  June  passed  in  quietude,  but  on  July  6th 
Napoleon  smashed  the  Austrians  at  Wagram, 
and  on  the  30th  the  Marshal  Duke  of  Dantzig 
re-entered  Innsbruck  and  lodged  a  peremptory 
demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  peasant  leaders 
and  a  general  laying   down  of  arms,   within 


THE    TYROL  61 

forty-eight  hours.  Hofer's  rejoinder  was  to 
call  his  people  to  arms  again — as  usual  with 
guerilla  fighters,  they  had  dispersed  to  their 
homes — and  early  on  August  4th  the  peasants 
waited  for  Rouyer's  division  of  Lefebvre's 
army  to  enter  the  gorge  of  Sterzing.  When  the 
leading  regiment  composed  of  Saxons  were 
well  into  the  defile  they  were  the  target  for 
nearly  a  thousand  concealed  marksmen,  while 
a  mysterious  voice  was  heard  to  ask  whether 
he  should  "  cut  away  yet."  "  Not  yet,"  came 
the  equally  mysterious  answer.  A  little  later 
and  the  same  voice  exclaimed,  "  Now,  John, 
in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity  !  "  and  with 
that  a  vast  mass  of  stones,  trees  and  fragments 
of  the  mountain  thundered  down  upon  the 
dismayed  invaders.  At  length,  having  lost 
1300  out  of  2000  by  this  avalanche  and  from 
the  flying  bullets,  the  remnant  of  the  Saxons 
surrendered  at  discretion.  It  will  be  remarked 
that  identically  the  same  tactics  were  adopted 
by  the  mountaineers  as  at  Brixen  in  April. 

Nor  did  Marshal  Lefebvre  himself  fare  any 
better.  Though  at  the  head  of  7000  troops  with 
twelve  guns,  the  veteran  descended  to  the 
humiliation  of  clothing  himself  like  a  common 
soldier  for  fear  the  sharpshooters  should  pick 


62  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

him  off.  Four  days  later  saw  him  back  at 
Innsbruck,  having  lost  heavily  in  the  repeated 
attempts  to  force  the  gorge.  His  retirement  was 
dogged  all  the  way  by  his  brave  and  venture- 
some adversaries,  and  Speckbacher  with  his 
own  hands  captured  a  Bavarian  officer.  On 
Sunday,  August  13th,  commenced,  after  Father 
Haspinger  had  said  mass,  something  in  the 
nature  of  a  final  struggle  for  supremacy.  The 
Franco-Saxo-Bavarian  forces  numbered  about 
20,000,  the  peasants  not  quite  so  many.  Hofer 
made  one  of  his  rousing  little  harangues.  "  Are 
you  all  here,  comrades  ?  "  said  he.  "  Then  we 
will  advance.  You  have  heard  mass  and  taken 
your  dram.  In  the  name  of  God  !  "  Fearful 
for  his  line  of  communications  in  case  of  defeat, 
Lefebvre  detached  a  brigade  under  Count  Arco 
(who,  by  the  way,  was  killed).  Though  hard 
pressed  during  a  long  period  of  that  bloody 
day,  the  splendid  Tyrolese  remained  at  night- 
fall in  possession  of  the  disputed  ground. 
The  Bavarian  portion  of  the  enemy  alone 
sustained  2000  casualties,  and  this  time 
Lefebvre  was  compelled  to  fall  back  right  to 
Salzburg,  losing  many  prisoners  by  the  way. 
Hofer  was  now  Governor  and  administrator  of 
the  Tyrol. 


THE    TYROL  63 

The  treaty  of  Schonbriinn  proved,  however, 
the  nail  in  the  coffin  of  Tyrolese  resistance. 
By  it  Austria  re-ceded  the  Tyrol  and  other 
territories,  and  on  October  30th  Baron  von 
Lichtenthurn  arrived  at  Hofer's  head-quarters 
bearing  a  missive  from  the  Archduke  John. 
It  was  to  notify  that  the  struggle  with  Napoleon 
was  at  an  end,  that  their  country  had  reverted 
to  the  Bavarians,  and  that  they  had  better 
retire  quietly  to  their  homes  !  Can  we  wonder 
that  this  was  a  terrible  blow  to  these  brave 
men  ?  They  appeared  prostrated  by  the 
news,  and  Hofer  announced  to  Speckbacher, 
who  was  still  fighting  the  Bavarians,  that 
peace  was  made  with  France  and  the  Tyrol 
forgotten. 

And  the  man  who  had  concluded  this  humili- 
ating Treaty  with  Napoleon  ?  Writing  just 
a  hundred  years  after  the  event,  it  may 
be  of  interest  to  set  forth  the  proud  list  of 
titles,  mainly  hereditary,  pertaining  to  the 
head  of  the  "  humble "  House  of  Hapsburg- 
Lorraine  : 

"  We,  Francis  Joseph,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
Emperor  of  Austria,  King  of  Hungary  and 
Bohemia,  King  of  Lombardy  and  Venice,  of 
Dalmatia,    Croatia     and     Sclavonia,    Galicia, 


64  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Lodomeria  and  Illyria ;  King  of  Jerusalem, 
Archduke  of  Austria,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany 
and  Cracow,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  of  Salzburg, 
Styria,  Karinthia,  Krain  and  the  Bukovina  ; 
Grand  Prince  of  Transylvania,  Margrave  of 
Moravia,  Duke  of  Upper  and  Lower  Silesia, 
of  Modena,  Parma,  Piacenza  and  Guastalla, 
of  Auschwitz  and  Tabor,  of  Teschen,  Frione, 
Ragusa  and  Yara,  Princely  Count  of  Haps- 
burg,  Tyrol,  Kyburg,  Gorg,  and  Gradiska; 
Prince  of  Trent  and  Briden,  Margrave  of  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Lausitz,  Count  of  Hohe- 
numbs,  Feldkirch  and  Soneaberg,  Lord  of 
Trieste,  Cattaro,  and  of  the  Windish  Mark." 

The  intrepid  leaders  of  the  deserted  peasants 
must  have  smiled  grimly  under  their  beards 
at  this  long-winded  string  of  grandiloquent 
sounding  but — to  them — utterly  empty  dis- 
tinctions. Anyway,  they  would  fight  to  the 
last  gasp. 

On  All  Saints'  Day,  Hofer's  old  "  friend  the 
enemy,"  Von  Wrede,  took  advantage  of  the 
celebration  of  that  festival  by  the  pious  pea- 
sants to  fall  upon  them  at  Berg  Isel  and  cut 
them  up  badly.  Even  now,  however,  they 
would  not  own  themselves  worsted,  and  by 
dint  of  skilful  manoeuvring  Hofer  compelled 


THE    TYROL  65 

the  surrender  of  twelve  hundred  French 
soldiers  at  St.  Leonhard  near  his  own  home. 
This  was  in  November,  1809,  and  it  was  a  last 
gleam  of  success,  for  the  great  partisan  leader's 
resources  were  at  an  end  and  a  price  was  on  his 
head.  Early  in  December  he  was  constrained 
to  take  to  the  mountains.  In  some  sense  his 
powers  were  failing  under  the  perpetual  strain, 
and  he  was  a  broken  man.  The  secret  of  his 
hiding-place  was  known  but  to  a  few — even 
so,  some  wretch  was  found  base  enough  to 
betray  it  for  the  sake  of  the  blood-money. 
Hofer  was  taken  across  the  snowy  mountains 
to  Mantua  and  there  tried  before  the  mockery 
of  a  "  military  commission."  Most  of  the 
members  of  this  tribunal  were  opposed  to 
the  death  penalty  being  enforced,  but  the 
remorseless  Man  of  Destiny  willed  it  other- 
wise. He  sent  post-haste  to  order  the  execution 
of  the  Tyrolese  patriot  within  twenty-four 
hours.  This  cruel  murder  of  a  gallant  and 
too  trusting  foe  is  one  of  the  innumerable 
blots  on  Napoleon's  memory.  Andreas  Hofer 
was  shot  at  Mantua  on  February  20th,  1810, 
refusing  to  have  his  eyes  blindfolded.  So 
died  one  of  the  greatest  characters  of  his 
age,  a  true  patriot  and  Christian  and  a  great 


66  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

soldier.  At  the  head  of  his  untrained  band 
of  heroic  peasants,  he  had  resisted  the  armed 
might  of  France  and  Bavaria  for  nearly  a 
twelvemonth. 

Joseph  Speckbacher  escaped  with  difficulty 
to  Vienna,  where  he  was  received  into  the 
service  of  the  Emperor  Francis. 


CHAPTER   IV 

GERMANY  :    SCHILL   AND    THE    DUKE    OF 
BRUNSWICK 

"  Such  was  the  deplorable  condition  into  which 
Germany  had  now  fallen,"  writes  the  historian 
Menzel  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  1807,  "  that 
self-degradation  could  go  no  further.  The 
spirit  of  the  sons  of  Germany  began  to  rise, 
and  with  manly  courage  they  sought  by  their 
future  actions  to  wipe  off  the  deep  stain  of  their 
guilt  and  dishonour." 

The  gradual  awakening  of  the  German  nation 
from  the  lethargy  of  unpreparedness,  sloth 
and  gross  self-indulgence  that  had  culminated 
in  Napoleon's  crushing  victories  of  lena  and 
Auerstadt  in  1806,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
materially  assisted  by  her  irregular  fighters 
in  the  field.  Of  these,  two  stand  out  head  and 
shoulders  above  the  rest — Ferdinand  von  Schill 
and  Frederick  William,  Duke  of  Brunswick. 
The  first-named  was  a  professional  soldier  of 
considerable  genius  for  war,  whilst  the  Duke 

67 


68  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

of  Brunswick's  attitude  towards  the  enemies 
of  his  country  was  distinguished  by  a  personal 
hatred  of  the  French  despot  so  intense  as  to 
colour  his  every  act  in  partisan  warfare  with  a 
passion  for  revenge  which  it  would  be  impossible 
to  exaggerate.  We  shall  presently  see  whether 
this  vengeful  hatred  was  well  founded  or  not. 
His  father,  Charles  William  Ferdinand,  Duke 
of  Brunswick,  had  not  a  natural  genius  for  war. 
His  evil  fortune  and  the  fact  that  there  was 
no  other  commander  available,  invested  him, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  with  control  of 
the  Prussian  army  destined  to  be  so  badly 
beaten  by  the  French  in  1806.  The  Duke's 
previous  war  record  was  by  no  means  illumi- 
nating, for  he  had  commanded  the  Austro- 
Prussian  army  which,  destined  for  the  restora- 
tion of  Louis  XVI  in  1792,  had  been  com- 
pletely defeated  by  Dumouriez.  So  no  wonder 
that  Napoleon  contemptuously  compared  him 
with  the  Austrian  General  Mack,  whom  he  had 
captured  at  Ulm,  adding,  "  The  Prussians  are 
more  stupid  than  the  Austrians."  Inciden- 
tally, Napoleon's  hatred  of  England  made  him 
hate  the  Duke  because  he  was  brother-in-law 
of  George  III  and  father-in-law  of  the  English 
heir-apparent.    At  Auerstadt,  on  October  14th, 


^-"^<.. 


FREDERICK    WILLIAM,    DUKE    OF    BRUxXSWICK 


SCHILL  &  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK     69 

1806,  Brunswick  had  the  sight  of  both  eyes 
destroyed  by  a  grape-shot,  and  ten  days  later 
the  French  were  in  Berhn.  The  aged  and 
dying  Duke  petitioned  Napoleon  that  in  the 
pending  disruption  of  the  country  he  might  be 
permitted  to  retain  his  hereditary  State.  The 
conqueror  not  only  sent  a  savage  and  sneering 
refusal  to  this  request,  but  his  instant  seizure 
of  Brunswick  obliged  the  Duke  to  be  removed 
from  thence,  and  he  expired,  an  exile,  on 
Danish  territory.  To  the  request  of  his  son — 
the  Duke  of  our  present  story — that  he  might 
be  permitted  to  bury  his  sire  in  the  tomb  of 
his  ancestors,  the  Emperor  returned  a  not  less 
insulting  and  vehement  refusal.  Then  it  was 
that  the  grief-stricken  young  Duke — he  was 
aged  thirty-five — vowed  an  eternal  vengeance 
against  Napoleon,  who  certainly  does  not 
emerge  from  this  ugly  episode  in  the  most 
favourable  of  lights. 

Himself  trained  to  the  business  of  arms,  the 
young  Duke  Frederick  William  now  cast  about 
for  the  best  means  of  fulfilling  his  vow  to  his 
dead  father's  memory.  His  own  patrimony 
of  Brunswick  being  in  the  possession  of  the 
enemy,  he  withdrew  to  Bohemia,  and  there 
commenced  the  raising  and  equipment  of  a 


70  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

regiment  of  cavalry.  Money  was  an  initial 
difficulty,  but  here  the  Duke  was  favoured 
by  the  circumstance  that  his  sister  Caroline — 
the  unhappy  Queen  Caroline  of  after  years — 
was  married  to  the  Prince  of  Wales.  Through 
her  good  offices  English  gold  was  speedily 
forthcoming  for  the  equipment  and  main- 
tenance of  this  contingent.  It  took  the  form 
of  a  picked  body  of  two  thousand  Hussars. 
In  memory  of  his  dead  father  he  clothed  his 
troopers  in  black.  The  lace  on  their  tunics 
was  arranged  to  resemble  the  ribs  of  a  skeleton, 
and  on  the  front  of  their  helmets  appeared  a 
grisly  death's  head — altogether  a  sombre  but 
intensely  impressive  outfit. 

This  is  the  celebrated  cavalry  corps  which 
became  known  and  feared  throughout  Europe 
as  The  Black  Brunswickers.  The  labour  of 
love  and  death,  involved  in  the  recruiting  and 
armament  of  this  force,  occupied  the  Duke 
far  into  the  year  1808. 

After  the  frightful  disasters  of  1806,  which 
the  gross  blundering  and  egregious  vanity 
of  the  Prussians  had  so  largely  brought  upon 
themselves,  their  King  commenced  certain 
measures  of  internal  reform  which,  if  somewhat 
belated,    worked    great    good.      In    carrying 


SCHILL  &  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK    71 

them  out  he  had  the  warm  co-operation  of  his 
patriotic  Minister,  Von  Stein,  whose  plans  for 
Prussia's  regeneration  inchided  the  formation 
of  a  secret  society  to  which  he  gave  the  title  of 
"  Tiigend-Bund,"  or  Union  of  Virtue.  Leading 
spirits  of  this  movement  were  Colonel  Ferdi- 
nand von  Schill,  Professor  Jahn,  and  Moritz 
Arndt,  the  brilliant  author  of  the  famous 
patriotic  song.  Was  isl  der  Deutschen  Vciter- 
land  ?  and  of  the  Geist  der  Zeit — whose  literary 
outpourings,  by  the  way,  worked  so  effectively 
upon  the  national  spirit  for  Prussian  free- 
dom that  he  was  obliged  to  seek  refuge  in 
Sweden. 

The  Commander  -  in  -  Chief  of  the  army. 
General  Scharnhorst,  secretly  contrived  to 
increase  both  the  disposable  forces  and  the 
artillery,  whilst  Dr.  Jahn  established  in  Berlin 
a  school  of  gymnastics,  and  its  pattern  was 
followed  in  other  cities — not  really  for  "  gym- 
nastics "  so  much  as  to  familiarise  the  ungilded 
youth  with  the  use  of  arms. 

But  Napoleon's  spies  were  everywhere.  Pre- 
sently the  existence  of  the  "  Tiigend  Bund  " 
was  discovered,  and  Von  Stein,  Schill,  and 
others  proscribed.  The  tyrant  also  directed  the 
dismissal    of    General    Scharnhorst,    and    the 


72  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Chief  of  Police,  Griiner,  was  likewise  got  rid 
of  and  replaced  by  a  creature  of  Napoleon's. 

In  the  bitter  struggle  for  German  emancipa- 
tion which  now  waged  for  two  or  three  years, 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick  fought  gallantly  and 
with  varying  success.  His  "  Black  Bruns- 
wiCKERS,"  fighting  under  his  personal  direc- 
tion, performed  many  a  romantic  and  striking 
feat.  Marching  through  Saxony,  Hesse,  and 
Hanover,  the  intrepid  Duke  defeated  the 
French  under  Junot  at  Berneck  and  the  Saxons 
at  Zittau.  Further  victories  were  won  at 
Halberstadt  and  in  the  Duchy  of  Brunswick 
itself,  and  a  feat  of  brilliant  daring  was  the 
surprise  of  Leipsic.  It  is  impossible  more 
than  to  summarise  thus  the  complicated  opera- 
tions which  made  the  fame  of  Brunswick  ring 
throughout  Europe. 

The  reverse  to  Napoleon's  army  at  Aspern 
in  the  Austrian  campaign  of  1809  stimulated 
the  spirit  of  the  Prussian  resistance.  Bruns- 
wick re-entered  Westphalia,  General  Amende 
moved  against  Saxony,  and  5000  guerillas 
and  regulars  under  Radivojivich  overran  Fran- 
conia.  "  Aspern  has  destroyed  Napoleon's 
invincibility,"  announced  the  latter.  "  Arm 
for  the  cause  of  liberty,  justice,  and  Austria, 


SCHILL  &  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK     73 

to  deliver  Europe  for  the  human  race."  And 
Brunswick  himself  issued  a  stirring  proclama- 
tion :  "  Germans  !  Will  you  continue  to  com- 
bat Germans  ?  Will  you,  whose  mothers, 
wives,  and  sisters  have  been  outraged  by  the 
French,  shed  your  blood  in  their  defence  ?  It  is 
your  brothers  who  now  invoke  you — come  to 
break  your  fetters  to  avenge  the  liberty  of  Ger- 
many. To  arms  then  !  Hessians,  Prussians, 
Brunswickers,  Hanoverians,  all  who  bear  the 
honourable  name  of  Germans,  unite  for  the 
deliverance  of  your  Fatherland,  to  wipe  away 
its  shame  and  avenge  its  wrongs.  Rise  to 
deliver  your  country  from  a  disgraceful  yoke, 
under  which  it  has  so  long  groaned.  The  day 
of  its  emancipation  has  arrived."  Neverthe- 
less, when  Napoleon's  victory  of  Wagram 
followed  his  check  at  Aspern,  it  compelled 
Brunswick  to  seek  refuge  in  England.  "  The 
Duke  himself,"  says  Alison,  "  was  as  simply 
dressed  as  any  of  his  followers  ;  he  shared 
their  fare,  slept  beside  them  on  the  ground, 
underwent  their  fatigues.  These  martial  quali- 
ties, joined  to  the  ascendant  of  a  noble  figure 
and  unconquerable  intrepidity,  so  won  the 
hearts  of  his  followers  that  they  disdained  to 
desert  him  even  in  the  wreck  of  Germany's 


74  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

fortunes  after  Wagram ;  they  followed  his 
standard  with  dauntless  confidence  across  all 
Westphalia  and  Hanover,  and  lived  to  flesh 
their  swords  in  the  best  blood  of  France  on  the 
field  of  Waterloo."  Previous  to  that,  however, 
Brunswick  commanded  a  corps  of  30,000  in 
the  Allied  army  that  invaded  France  in 
1813-14. 

It  was  perhaps  of  the  fitness  of  things  that 
this  romantic  career  should  close  in  fighting 
the  legions  of  Napoleon,  whose  might  the 
Duke  had  been  opposing  so  manfully  for  the 
last  decade.  He  fell  on  the  well-worn  field  of 
Quatre  Bras,  June  16th,  1815,  so  that  he  did 
not  live  to  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  the  Napoleonic  sun  had  really  set  at  last. 
At  Quatre  Bras  the  Duke  coolly  smoked  his 
pipe  as  he  rode  along  the  line  of  his  Brunswick 
Hussars,  "  a  very  gallant  figure  set  in  the 
front  of  the  battle."  He  led  a  mixed  brigade 
of  German  infantry  and  cavalry  to  the  on- 
slaught, but  some  of  the  latter  (lancers)  were 
young  troops,  who  fled  when  opposed  to  the 
splendid  French  horsemen.  It  was  in  the 
noble  work  of  endeavouring  to  rally  his 
"  young  men  "  (as  Blucher  would  have  called 
them)  that  the  Duke  fell  mortally  wounded. 


SCHILL  &  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK     75 

It  happened  to  be  at  the  crisis  of  Picton's 
battle,  and  anything  might  have  happened  to 
the  Anglo-Belgian  army  just  then.  It  is 
scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  Brunswick 
heroically  sacrificed  himself  in  the  endeavour 
to  prevent  a  panic.  The  gallant  Foy  was  the 
opposing  French  General. 


We  have  now  to  trace  the  brief  but  meteoric 
career  of  the  other  great  guerilla  leader  in  the 
revolt  of  Germania  against  her  French  con- 
querors. Ferdinand  von  Schill,  born  in  1773, 
was  two  years  younger  than  Brunswick,  and 
entered  the  Prussian  army  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  In  the  cavalry  he  speedily  attained 
the  rank  of  Major,  and  received  a  severe 
wound  at  lena.  In  his  division  of  the  States 
of  Germany  among  his  relatives  and  satellites, 
Napoleon  conferred  the  Kingdom  of  Westphalia 
upon  his  brother  Jerome,  and  it  was  towards 
Westphalia  that  Schill  directed  his  steps  as 
soon  as  he  perceived  that  his  intentions  were 
discovered.  Without  waiting  for  "  permis- 
sion "  from  the  poor  humbled  King  of  Prussia 
— who  would  of  course  have  felt  compelled 
to  refuse  to  sanction  the  enterprise — the  brave 


76  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

fellow  managed  to  get  together  a  brigade  of 
hussar  cavalr3''  amounting  to  as  much  as 
5000  sabres.  He  had  for  his  watchword  the 
motto,  "  Better  a  terrible  end  than  endless 
terror,''  and  we  shall  see  how  nobly  he  lived 
up  to  this  dauntless  precept  to  the  end. 

In  order  to  make  good  his  scheme  for  a  con- 
certed movement  in  Westphalia  for  the  ex- 
pulsion of  King  Jerome  and  the  French,  Schill 
entered  into  a  secret  understanding  with  Colonel 
Dornberg,  one  of  the  Prussian  officers  in 
Jerome's  Guard.  Unfortunately,  however,  the 
plot  miscarried  owing  to  its  betrayal  by  a  false 
friend  of  Dornberg.  The  latter  got  safely 
away  into  England,  but  his  papers,  which,  of 
course,  were  seized,  contained  numerous  evi- 
dences of  his  treasonable  (?)  correspondence 
with  Schill.  Jerome  promptly  and  energeti- 
cally denounced  the  latter  to  his  Majesty  of 
Prussia,  who  had  no  choice  but  to  renounce 
him  also. 

The  heroic  Schill,  plainly  perceiving  that 
whatever  he  might  do  for  his  country's  weal 
could  now  only  have  one  end  for  himself, 
took  the  field  with  his  corps  of  devoted  hussars, 
and  commenced  a  campaign  which  quickly 
assumed  the  dimensions  of  a  "  running  fight." 


SCHILL  &  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK     77 

For  the  forces  of  Jerome  Bonaparte,  King  of 
Westphalia,  were  upon  him  on  the  one  hand, 
and  those  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  King  of  Holland, 
on  the  other — each  in  preponderating  strength. 
The  partisan  leader's  plan  of  an  "  invasion  " 
of  Westphalia  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have 
even  matured,  for  marching  by  way  of  Witten- 
berg and  Halberstadt,  he  was  rapidly  turned 
back  by  the  united  armies  of  Jerome  and  Louis. 
After  this  he  struck  out  northwards  towards 
Weimar,  but  with  a  rapidly  diminishing  force. 
Failing  to  take  Magdeburg,  with  its  great 
arsenal  of  arms,  he  made  for  Stralsiind,  con- 
ceiving that  in  this  coast  fortress  (which 
had  been  captured  by  the  French  in  1807)  an 
effective  stand  might  be  made.  But  the  odds 
were  too  great.  After  a  bitter  and  prolonged 
struggle,  6000  Dutch  and  Westphalians  under 
General  Gratien  (here  we  have  the  unlovely 
spectacle,  so  often  seen  in  these  wars,  of  Ger- 
mans fighting  against  their  own  countrymen) 
burst  into  the  town.  A  desperate  hand-to-hand 
encounter  in  the  streets  ensued.  Fighting 
valiantly  to  the  last,  Schill  split  with  his  sabre 
the  skull  of  the  Dutch  General  Carteret  before 
he  himself  fell  mortally  wounded— a  better 
fate,   after   all,   than   to   be  reserved   for   the 


78  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

tender  mercies  of  Napoleon.  For  "  this 
greatest  of  brigands  branded  all  patriots  who 
attempted  the  defence  of  their  natural  rights 
by  that  name."  Those  who  were  not  killed 
surrendered,  and,  peremptorily  refusing  to 
recognise  them  as  soldiers,  the  French  Emperor 
caused  eleven  of  Schill's  officers  to  be  shot  as 
bandits  at  Wesel  and  fourteen  more  at  Bruns- 
wick. The  six  hundred  prisoners  of  the  rank 
and  file  were,  with  consummate  barbarity, 
consigned  to  the  unthinkable  horrors  of  the 
galleys  at  Toulon. 

"  All  the  volunteers  in  the  Queen's  Regi- 
ment," says  Alison,  "  the  noblest  youths  in 
Prussia,  were  conducted  with  a  chain  about 
their  necks  to  the  great  depot  of  galley  slaves 
at  Cherbourg,  and  there  employed  in  hard  work 
in  the  convict  dress,  with  a  24-pound  bullet 
round  the  ankles  of  each,  amidst  the  common 
malefactors,  without  being  permitted  com- 
munication with  their  parents  or  their  even 
knowing  whether  they  were  alive  or  dead. 
Eleven  noble  Prussians  were  in  the  first 
instance  brought  to  Verdun  as  prisoners  of 
war,  but  thence  were  speedily  conducted  to 
Wesel,  where  they  were  delivered  to  a  mihtary 
commission  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.     The 


SCHILL  &  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK     79 

judgment  was  pronounced  at  noon,  but  before 
six  in  the  morning  their  graves  had  been  dug 
in  the  fosses  of  the  citadel.  When  the  execu- 
tioners were  about  to  bind  one  of  the  victims 
to  his  brother,  he  exclaimed,  '  Are  we  not 
sufficiently  bound  by  blood,  and  the  cause  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  to  be  spared  this  last 
act  of  insult  ?  '  "  ^ 

The  death  of  Schill  at  Stralsiind  took 
place  on  May  31st,  1809.  No  sooner  had 
the  French  colours  been  hoisted  on  the  walls 
than  an  English  squadron  appeared  off  the 
harbour.  "  Such,"  again  remarks  Alison,  "  is 
the  value  of  time  in  war  " — for  if  the  British 
cruisers  had  arrived  a  few  hours  earlier  the 
rising  in  the  north  of  Germany,  instead  of 
being  temporarily  eclipsed,  might  have  been 
extended  over  a  very  wide  area. 

Thus  died,  for  the  debased  and  humiliated 
"  Fatherland  "  that  had  denounced  and  de- 
serted him,  Ferdinand  Schill,  in  the  thirty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  before  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  had  time  or  opportunity  to  co- 
operate with  him.  It  is  scarcely  likely  that 
Napoleon,  the  moral  murderer  of  Brunswick's 
father,  would  have  spared  the  lives  of  either 

'  History  of  Euro])'',  volame  x\\,  13. 


80  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

of  these  brave  men  if  he  could  have  captured 
them.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  both  of  them 
fell  on  the  battlefield.  The  record  of  few 
martial  families,  indeed,  is  comparable  to 
that  of  the  Dukes  of  Brunswick,  "  sixteen  of 
whom  died  on  the  field  of  glory."  ^ 

^  Sir  E.  Cust,  Annals  of  the  Wars. 


CHAPTER  V 

SOUTH   AMERICA  :    BOLIVAR   AND    MILLER 

The  difficulties  of  the  war  of  liberation  "  com- 
pelled him  to  assume  a  Dictator's  power, 
but  there  is  no  proof  that  he  was  ever  insincere 
in  his  devotion  to  liberty  ;  and  in  the  service 
of  his  country  he  not  only  gained  no  wealth, 
but  freely  spent  his  own  large  fortune." 
Such  is  the  deliberate  and  unbiased  opinion 
of  posterity  on  Simon  Bolivar,  "  El  Libertador," 
the  patriot  who  during  the  second  and  third 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  despite 
countless  reverses  and  almost  incredible  hard- 
ships, engineered  and  superintended  the  mighty 
movement  that  led  to  the  liberation  of  the 
South  American  continent  from  the  yoke  of 
Spain. 

Born  at  Caracas,  Venezuela,  on  July  24th, 
1783,  of  a  noble  and  wealthy  family,  Bolivar 
came  over  to  Europe  at  an  early  age.  He  may 
be  said  to  have  been  almost  cradled  in  revolu- 
tionary arms,   for  during  these  years  of  his 

F  8l 


82  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

adolescence  he  visited  Paris  and  was  an  eye- 
witness of  some  lurid  scenes  in  the  French 
Revolution.  In  1801  he  returned  home  to 
Caracas  and  married,  but  his  young  wife  died 
three  years  afterwards,  and  grief  at  her  loss 
led  to  a  repetition  of  his  foreign  travels.  In 
1809  we  find  Bolivar  temporarily  sojourning 
in  the  United  States,  closely  observing  their 
methods  of  government  and  the  way  in  which 
their  own  revolution  had  been  conducted.  A 
democrat  from  the  outset,  young  Bolivar — 
he  was  now  only  twenty-six  years  old — re- 
turned home  for  the  third  time,  deeply  imbued 
with  the  progressive  doctrines  which  he  had 
now  seen  in  practice  both  in  Europe  and  North 
America,  and  determined  to  die  or  succeed  in 
bringing  about  the  independence  of  Spanish 
South  America. 

He  at  once  was  placed,  or  placed  himself, 
at  the  head  of  a  little  but  growing  party  of 
revolutionaries  pledged  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 
The  immediate  sequel  was  an  outbreak  at 
Caracas  in  1810,  and  on  July  5th  of  the  ensuing 
year  the  "  independence  "  of  Venezuela  was 
"  proclaimed,"  though  for  the  moment  little 
could  be  effected  against  the  preponderating 
power    of    Spain.      A    visit    to    England    by 


BOLIVAR   AND   MILLER  83 

Bolivar  was  unproductive  of  diplomatic  result, 
and  in  1812  Caracas  was  destroyed  by  a 
stupendous  earthquake.  Returning  home 
again,  the  young  General  fought  many  a  good 
fight,  but  in  1815,  defeated  by  Morillo,  he 
was  compelled  to  fly  to  Jamaica,  where  he 
remained  for  some  months.  The  hopes  of 
the  patriot  party  were  at  zero. 

Even  in  the  presumed  safe  shelter  of  a 
British  Colony  the  exiled  Liberator  was  not 
safe  from  his  enemies.  Already  such  was  the 
magic  of  his  name,  and  so  great  the  fear  of 
him,  that  the  Spanish  authorities  hired  a  spy 
who  bribed  a  negro  to  assassinate  Bolivar. 
Unhappily  for  this  wretched  creature,  he 
murdered  Bolivar's  secretary  in  mistake  for 
the  Liberator  himself.  The  negro  was  ar- 
raigned at  Port  Kingston  on  the  charge  of 
murder,  and  was  hanged  there. 

From  Jamaica  Bolivar  went  to  San  Domingo, 
whose  black  President  accorded  him  the 
warmest  support  in  his  bitter  struggle  with 
the  mighty  power  of  Spain.  Here  also  a 
wealthy  Dutch  shipbuilder,  Brion  by  name, 
became  so  enamoured  of  the  good  cause 
that  he  devoted  his  life  as  well  as  his  very  con- 
siderable fortune  to  its  furtherance.     A  flotilla 


84  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

was  fitted  out,  having  the  Island  of  Margarita 
for  its  base  of  operations  against  the  Spanish 
power  in  Venezuela.  It  was  certainly  high 
time,  for  the  infamous  General  Morillo — who 
after  Bolivar's  discomfiture  in  1815  had  been 
nominated  by  King  Ferdinand  of  Spain  to 
the  supreme  command  against  the  waning 
cause  of  the  Patriots — practised  upon  the 
inhabitants  barbarities  so  unthinkable  in  their 
horror  and  repulsion  that  they  cannot  be  set 
down  here.  Small  wonder,  then,  that  the 
little  band  of  undaunted  supporters  of  freedom 
solemnly  decreed  that  this  struggle  must  be 
"  unto  death."  During  Bolivar's  enforced 
absence  from  the  theatre  of  war,  fine  service 
was  rendered  by  a  remarkable  and  illiterate 
native  herdsman  of  the  pampas,  Paez,  who  in 
later  life  and  after  many  glorious  victories 
rose  to  be  President  of  the  Venezuelan  Re- 
public. Bolivar  likewise  received  the  en- 
couragement of  considerable  support  in  men 
and  arms  from  England  and  Ireland.  The 
Irish  Legion  that  went  out  under  General 
Devereux  was  800  strong,  and  General  English 
(one  of  Wellington's  Peninsular  veterans)  ar- 
ranged to  take  out  1200  picked  men.  The 
long  struggle  with  Napoleon  was,  fortunately 


BOLIVAR  AND   MILLER  85 

for  Bolivar,  at  an  end,  and  there  were  a  great 
number  of  "  soldiers  of  fortune  "  of  all  nations 
literally  "  spoiling  for  a  fight."  An  amusing 
and  interesting  account  of  a  visit  to  the 
Liberator's  head-quarters  states  that  during 
the  very  hot  weather  Bolivar  was  in  the  habit 
of  working  in  a  condition  of  absolute  nudity. 
This  highly  original  method  of  doing  official 
work  is  thus  piquantly  described  :  "  There  sat 
Colonel  O'Leary,  one  of  His  Excellency's  secre- 
taries, with  a  small  writing-desk  in  his  lap, 
writing  dispatches  at  the  dictation  of  Bolivar, 
who  was  sitting  on  the  edge  of  a  large  South 
American  cot  slung  from  the  ceiling.  To 
avoid  the  inconvenience  of  the  heat,  he  was 
quite  unencumbered  with  apparel  or  covering 
of  miy  description,  and  was  swinging  himself 
violently  by  means  of  a  coquita  rope,  attached 
to  a  hook  driven  into  the  opposite  wall.  Thus 
curiouslv  situated,  he  alternatelv  dictated  to 
O'Leary  and  whistled  a  French  Republican 
tunc,  to  which  he  beat  time  by  knocking  his 
feet  laterally.  Seeing  him  so  circumstanced 
and  employed  I  was  about  to  retire,  when  His 
Excellency  called  to  me  in  very  good  English 
to  enter  and  desired  me  to  be  seated  if  I  could 
find  anything  to  sit  upon,  which  was  not  an 


86  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

easy  matter  ;  but  looking  round  the  room  I 
espied  an  old  portmanteau,  upon  which  I  sat 
until  he  was  disengaged." 

It  was  not  till  1819  that  Bolivar  felt  pre- 
pared to  assume  the  offensive  at  the  head 
of  his  heterogenous  but  well-drilled  and  en- 
thusiastic little  array  of  2500  South  Americans, 
British,  Irish,  Germans,  and  others.  Now 
it  was  that  he  realised  his  extraordinarily 
brilliant  conception  of  crossing  the  mighty 
Andes  and  so  striking  the  Spaniards  in  flank 
by  way  of  New  Granada.  And  everything 
went  his  way  and  fickle  fortune  favoured  him. 
He  had  already  dispatched  a  supply  of  muskets 
to  the  patriot  General  Santander,  who  was 
operating  successfully  and  tirelessly  against 
the  Spaniards  in  that  region.  At  starting 
Bolivar  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  inhabitants 
of  New  Granada,  informing  them  that  "  the 
day  of  America  has  come — no  human  power 
can  stay  the  force  of  Nature  guided  by  Provi- 
dence !  Before  the  sun  has  again  run  its 
annual  course,  altars  of  Liberty  shall  rise 
throughout  your  land." 

He  was  grandiloquent  but  prophetic.  On 
June  11th,  1819,  the  Liberator  and  his  troops 
joined    hands    with    General    Santander    "  at 


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BOLIVAR  AND  MILLER  87 

the  foot  of  the  Andes,"  having  in  the  process 
to  swim  or  ford  no  fewer  than  seven  deep 
rivers.    The  enterprise  had  begun. 

This   memorable   march   across   the   Andes 
lasted  nearly  a  month.     So  terrible  were  the 
privations  endured  that  at  one  point  the  men 
wavered  and  murmured.     But  Bolivar,   who 
had  the  good  sense  to  harangue  them  at  once, 
told  them  bluntly  that  still  greater  difficulties 
had  to  be  conquered  ere  their  goal  was  attained 
— would  they  continue  the  advance  or  not  ? 
The  reply  was  unanimously  in  favour  of  going 
on.     It  must  have  been  a  weirdly  picturesque 
sight,    that     ragged     and     ill  -  fed     company 
struggling    desperately    onward   and   upward. 
"  The  snowy   peaks  of  the   Cordillera,"   says 
Mr.    W.    B.    Robertson,    "  appeared    in    the 
distance,  while  instead    of   the   peaceful  lake 
through  which  they  had  waded,  they  were  met 
by  great  masses  of  water  tumbling  from  the 
heights.      The   roads   ran   along   the   edge   of 
precipices  and  were  bordered  by  gigantic  trees, 
upon    whose    tops    rested    the    clouds    which 
dissolved  themselves  in  incessant  rain.     After 
four  days'  march  the  horses  were  foundered  ; 
an   entire    squadron    of   llafieros   deserted    on 
finding   themselves    on    foot.    ...    As    they 


8S  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

ascended  the  mountain  the  scene  changed 
again.  Immense  rocks  piled  one  upon  another, 
and  hills  of  snow,  bounded  the  view  on  every 
side.  Below  lay  the  clouds  veiling  the  depths 
of  the  abyss,  while  an  ice-cold  wind  cut 
through  the  stoutest  clothing.  To  make  the 
scene  more  dreary  yet,  the  path  was  marked 
out  by  crosses  erected  in  memory  of  travellers 
who  had  perished  by  the  way." 

Their  immediate  objective  was  a  position, 
covering  the  direct  route  into  the  town  and 
province  of  Tunja,  held  by  the  Spanish  Colonel 
Barreiro  with  about  2500  infantry  and  cavalry, 
and  having  substantial  reserves  behind  him. 
This  officer  was  in  profound  ignorance  as  to 
Bolivar's  intention  —  most  people,  indeed, 
would  have  considered  any  attempt  to  pass  the 
Andes  at  that  inclement  season  the  act  of  a 
madman  and  impracticable  of  success.  When, 
therefore,  the  Liberator  and  his  footsore  hand- 
ful burst  over  the  mighty  Cordillera  and 
appeared  in  his  front  on  July  6th,  the  Spaniard 
was  lost  in  astonishment.  Nevertheless  he  at 
once  prepared  to  cope  with  the  situation. 
Bolivar  had  private  information  that  the 
people  of  Tunja  were  favourable  to  him, 
and  he  desired  to  take  the  town  as  speedily  as 


BOLIVAR  AND  MILLER  89 

possible.  The  belligerent  forces  came  in  touch 
on  July  25th,  when  a  profitless  success  (which 
cost  Colonel  Rooke,  commanding  the  British 
contingent,  an  arm)  decided  Bolivar  to  leave 
Barreiro  in  his  rear  and,  by  feints  and  counter- 
marches, make  for  Tunja.  Accordingly  he 
entered  that  place  on  August  5th,  made 
himself  master  of  extensive  stores  and  war 
material  and,  as  the  logical  sequel  to  his  bold 
move,  rendered  his  opponent  fearful  for  his 
communications.  Barreiro,  indeed,  finding 
that  he  had  no  alternative  but  to  fight,  retired 
upon  a  place  called  Quemada.  Here  he  gave 
battle  to  the  Patriot  army  (August  17th,  1819) 
and  —  was  decisively  defeated  and  over- 
whelmed. 

This  engagement  is  known  in  history  as  the 
battle  of  Boya9a.  It  was  not  merely  decisive 
of  the  fate  of  New  Granada,  but  it  rendered 
the  position  of  the  hated  General  Morillo — the 
would-be  assassin  of  Bolivar — one  of  extreme 
peril  and  isolation  in  Venezuela.  Barreiro 
himself  became  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  in  his 
fury  and  humiliation  he  broke  his  sword  rather 
than  give  it  up  to  the  detested  foe.  With 
him  surrendered  some  sixteen  hundred  of  the 
rank  and  file  and  a  great  lumiber  of  officers. 


90  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

The  loss  to  Bolivar's  people  was  the  astonish- 
ingly trifling  one  of  thirteen  killed  and  fifty- 
three  wounded.  The  battle  was  really  decided 
by  means  of  the  time-worn  ruse  of  an  ambush, 
a  trap  into  which  the  Spaniards  readily  fell. 
So  delighted  was  Bolivar  with  the  behaviour 
of  his  English  Legion,  that  he  created  everyone 
of  them  a  member  of  the  "  Order  of  the 
Liberator."  A  few  days  afterwards  he  entered 
the  capital,  Bogota,  and  the  cause  of  freedom 
was  completely  triumphant. 

With  Venezuela,  Ecuador  and  Colombia 
gloriously  freed  from  the  Spanish  domination, 
Bolivar  felt  at  liberty  to  lead  his  victorious 
and  much-strengthened  army  across  the  Peru- 
vian frontier  by  the  close  of  1823.  In  an 
impassioned  speech  to  the  National  Assembly 
at  Lima,  the  Liberator  solemnlv  told  his 
hearers  that  the  troops  who  had  "  come  from 
the  Plate,  the  Maule,  the  Magdalena,  and  the 
Orinoco  as  the  deliverers  of  Peru  "  would  not 
desist  until  the  Peruvians  were  similarly  a 
free  nation.  And  in  June,  1824,  he  entered 
the  field  at  the  head  of  10,000  foot  and  200 
horse,  his  head-quarters  being  established  at 
Truxillo.  The  Spanish  forces  were  in  about 
equal    strength,    but    were    much    scattered 


',i  w;iii*< 


liJ;^ 


HULINARS   MARCH   ACROSS   THE    AM»ES 


BOLIVAR   AND  MILLER  91 

pending  the  calling  in  of  various  detachments  ; 
their  most  capable  commander  was  General 
Canterac.  Reviewing  his  motley  but  enthusi- 
astic and  well-seasoned  little  armv — there  were 
adventurers  of  all  nations,  most  notably 
Britons  who  had  fought  in  the  wars  with 
France — amid  the  sublime  scenery  of  the 
Cordilleras,  the  Deliverer  spoke  as  follows  : 

"  Soldiers  !  You  are  about  to  complete  the 
greatest  undertaking  Heaven  has  confided 
to  man — that  of  saving  an  entire  world  from 
slavery. 

"  Soldiers  !  The  enemies  you  have  to  over- 
throw boast  of  fourteen  years  of  triumphs — 
they  are  therefore  ready  to  measure  their 
swords  with  ours,  which  have  glittered  in  a 
thousand  combats. 

"  Soldiers  !  Peru  and  America  expect  from 
you  Peace,  the  daughter  of  Victory.  Even 
liberal  Europe  beholds  you  with  delight,  be- 
cause the  freedom  of  the  New  World  is  the 
hope  of  the  universe.  Will  you  disappoint  it  ? 
No,  no,  no  !    You  are  invincible." 

This  was  on  August  2nd.  Shortly  after- 
wards, the  enemy  under  General  Canterac 
advanced  upon  Bolivar,  but  only  a  cavalry 
battle    took    place    at    this    time.      In    what 


92  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

must  have  been  a  smart  affair,  the  lance  and 
sabre  were  both  employed.  The  Patriots 
had  all  the  best  of  the  argument,  and  while 
they  lost  a  mere  handful  of  men  the  Spaniards 
had  to  mourn  18  officers  and  345  men  killed  or 
wounded  and  80  captured,  in  addition  to  a 
vast  number  of  desertions.  Canterac  was 
compelled  to  fall  back  to  Cuzco,  his  original 
base.  After  this  Bolivar's  troops  failed  to  get 
in  touch  with  an  always  retreating  foe,  and  in 
October  he  left  the  army  to  the  care  of  his 
second  in  command,  Sucre,  and  himself  went 
to  Lima  in  order  to  hurry  up  reinforcements. 
As  therefore  he  was  not  present  in  person 
at  the  approaching  battle,  I  shall  only  describe 
it  in  brief. 

After  Bolivar's  departure,  General  Sucre 
took  council  with  his  three  principal  officers, 
Lara,  La  Mar,  and  the  gallant  Englishman 
General  Miller.  The  result  of  their  delibera- 
tions was  a  decision  to  disregard  the  Dictator's 
instructions  as  to  not  fighting,  and  to  en- 
deavour to  prevent  a  junction  between 
Canterac  and  the  Spanish  Governor-General, 
Laserna.  Eventuallv,  after  two  solid  months 
of  marching  and  countermarching,  the  opposing 
forces  came  together  on  the    rolling  plains  of 


BOLIVAR  AND   MILLER  93 

Ayacucho,  11,000  feet  above  the  sea-level. 
The  Spaniards  had,  however,  formed  junction, 
and  Laserna's  army  numbered  nearly  10,000 
as  against  the  less  than  6000  of  the  Patriots  ; 
but,  as  a  set-off  to  this  preponderance,  there 
were  numerous  desertions  from  the  Spanish 
strength. 

As  the  armies  joined  battle  General  Sucre 
exclaimed  :  "  Soldiers  !  Remember  that  upon 
you  depends  the  fate  of  South  America."  And 
one  of  his  brigade  commanders,  Cordova, 
as  if  in  emulation  of  Warwick  the  King- 
maker at  Barnet  in  1471,  killed  his  charger 
in  full  view  of  his  men,  remarking  :  "  There 
lies  my  last  horse — I  have  now  no  means  of 
escape,  and  we  shall  fight  it  out  together. 
Onward  then,  with  the  step  of  conquerors  !  " 
The  bayonets  crossed  in  the  charge,  and  the 
Spaniards  broke.  Quite  early  in  the  conflict 
the  Viceroy  Laserna  himself  was  wounded 
and  captured,  but  a  turning  movement  con- 
ducted by  General  Valdez  threatened  to  change 
the  fate  of  the  day  until  counteracted  by  a 
brilliant  cavalry  charge  led  by  Miller.  Eventu- 
ally the  battle  ended  in  a  complete  victory 
for  the  Patriots,  and  Canterac  was  glad  to 
come  to  terms.     For  miles,  we  are  told,  the 


94  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

landscape  was  strewn  with  the  silver  helmets 
of  the  Spanish  hussars.  As  against  a  loss  of 
370  killed  and  609  wounded  in  the  ranks  of 
the  victors,  the  Spanish  had  1400  officers  and 
men  killed,  700  wounded,  and  3200  men  and 
550  officers  taken  prisoners.  On  the  winning 
side  fought  General  Francis  O'Connor,  the 
brother  of  Fergus  O'Connor. 

Bolivar  was  naturally  delighted  with  the 
victory  of  Ayacucho,  only  regretting  his  own 
absence  therefrom.  This  brilliant  battle  took 
place  on  December  9th,  1824,  and  it  was 
decisive  of  the  liberation  of  Peru.  As  long 
previously  as  April,  1818,  the  freedom  of  Chili 
had  been  brought  about  by  the  celebrated 
San  Martin's  crushing  defeat  of  General  Osorio 
in  the  great  battle  of  Maipo,  when  only 
fourteen  of  the  enemy  had  escaped  to  tell  the 
tale  of  defeat. 

So  admirable  a  summary  of  these  rather  con- 
fused operations  has  been  given  by  M.  Reclus 
that  I  reproduce  a  portion  of  it  in  his  own  words : 
"  More  than  once  the  patriotic  party  seemed 
on  the  point  of  being  crushed,  and  the  cause 
of  the  Revolution  was  seriously  endangered 
by  the  earthquake  which  destroyed  Caracas 
in   1812.     The   indirect  consequences   of  this 


SIMOX  BOLIVAR 


BOLIVAR  AND   MILLER  95 

disaster  were  even  more  deplorable  than  the 
catastrophe  itself.  It  prolonged  the  ruinous 
war  for  years  and  intensified  its  horrors. 
The  event  having  taken  place  on  Holy  Thurs- 
day, the  first  anniversary  of  the  declaration 
of  independence,  the  priests — nearly  all  of 
whom  belonged  to  the  Spanish  party — de- 
clared that  the  hand  of  God  had  wrought  the 
mischief  in  order  to  crush  the  Revolution. 
Most  of  the  towns  besieged  by  the  Spaniards 
fell  into  their  hands,  and  Miranda  (General-in- 
Chief  of  the  insurgents)  capitulated,  leaving 
the  remains  of  Caracas  to  its  old  masters. 
But  the  Revolution  broke  out  again,  thanks 
especially  to  foreign  aid.  Owing  to  its  geo- 
graphical position  in  relative  proximity  to  the 
Antilles,  North  America,  and  Europe,  Vene- 
zuela received  more  volunteers  from  abroad 
than  any  of  the  other  revolted  provinces.  As 
many  as  9000  English,  Americans,  and  French 
are  said  to  have  served  in  her  armies,  in 
addition  to  a  thousand  blacks  from  Hayti. 
But  the  same  geographical  position  also  facili- 
tated the  landing  of  Spanish  troops.  The 
issue  might  have  been  long  retarded  but  for 
the  action  of  the  llaneros,  the  cowboys  of  the 
llanos — who  at  a  critical   moment  joined  the 


96  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Revolution  and,  under  their  leader  Paez,  intro- 
duced a  system  of  guerilla  tactics  against 
which  the  resources  of  regular  warfare  proved 
ineffectual.  After  eleven  years  of  incessant 
struggle  the  battle  of  Carobobo  put  an  end 
to  the  Spanish  dominion,  and  the  former 
"  capitaneria  "  of  Caracas  became  an  integral 
part  of  the  great  Republic  of  Colombia,  which 
also  included  Ecuador  and  New  Granada. 
In  the  collective  war  of  emancipation  the  merit 
of  final  success  was  largely  attributed  to 
Simon  Bolivar.  Every  town  in  Venezuela 
has  perpetuated  the  memory  of  the  Liberator 
by  naming  some  street  or  erecting  some  public 
monument  in  his  honour." 

The  melancholy  fact  remains  that  Bolivar 
found  it  considerably  more  easy  to  emancipate 
his  native  country  than  to  govern  it.  For  a 
very  few  years  he  endeavoured  to  rule  over  the 
new  Republic  with  the  power  and  insight  of 
an  enlightened  and  benevolent  despot.  But 
on  every  hand  ingratitude  and  intrigue  appear 
to  have  dogged  the  footsteps  of  the  warm- 
hearted Dictator  who  had  dared  and  done  so 
much  for  Venezuela.  Shattered  in  health 
and  disillusioned  in  ideals,  he  passed  away  at 
San  Pedro  on  December  17th,  1830,  a  prema- 


BOLIVAR  AND  MILLER  97 

turely  old  man  at  forty-seven.  Twelve  years 
afterwards  his  remains  were  removed  to  the 
capital,  and  there  interred  with  much  solemnity 
and  splendour.  The  centenary  of  his  birth 
was  made  the  occasion  of  great  public  re- 
joicings in  1883.  The  Republic  of  Bolivia, 
whose  freedom  from  Spanish  rule  was  achieved 
only  some  five  years  before  his  death,  was 
christened  after  South  America's  greatest 
soldier-statesman — in  every  sense  of  the 
word  the  George  Washington  of  his  country. 
I  have  just  referred  to  the  bitter  disillusion- 
ment of  the  Liberator's  later  life  and  the 
shattering  of  his  undoubtedly  cherished  plan 
for  a  united  "  Empire  of  the  Andes  "  with 
himself  as  its  dictator.  Writing  to  General 
Flores  of  Ecuador,  Bolivar  said  :  "  America 
is  for  us  ungovernable.  He  who  dedicates  his 
services  to  a  Revolution  ploughs  the  sea.  The 
only  thing  that  can  be  done  in  South  America 
is  to  emigrate.  This  country  will  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  unbridled  rabble,  and  little  by 
little  will  become  a  prey  to  petty  tyrants  of 
all  races  and  colours.  Devoured  by  all  possible 
crimes  and  ruined  by  our  own  ferociousness, 
Europeans  will  not  deem  it  worth  while  to 
conquer  us.     If  it  were  possible  for  any  part 


98  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

of  the   world   to   return   to   primitive   chaos 
that    would    be    the    last    stage    of    Spanish 
America." 

•  •  •  •  • 

The  name  of  General  William  Miller  must 
ever  be  bracketed  with  those  of  Bolivar,  San 
Martin,  Cochrane,  and  O'Higgins  in  the  story 
of  South  American  independence.  He  was  a 
man  of  Kent — the  county  of  Wolfe  and  Am- 
herst, names  brilliant  in  the  war-story  of 
America — and  was  born  at  Wingham  in  1795. 
His  career  in  the  British  army,  until  the  fall  of 
Napoleon  left  him  an  idle  man,  comprised 
much  of  the  severest  fighting  in  the  Spanish 
Peninsula  as  well  as  a  share  in  our  sillv  and 
useless  war  with  the  United  States.  Having 
fought  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Spanish 
soldiers,  he  was  now  destined  to  fight  against 
them. 

Miller  landed  in  South  America  in  the 
autumn  of  1817,  and  at  once  placed  his  sword 
at  the  disposal  of  San  Martin.  That  great 
soldier  promptly  assigned  him  to  a  captaincy 
in  the  Army  of  the  Andes,  and  though  he  had 
not  the  good  fortune  to  be  present  at  the 
decisive  victory  of  the  Maipo,  he  speedily 
found  himself  engaged  elsewhere.   At  the  some- 


BOLIVAR   AND    MILLER  99 

what  discreditable  action  of  Canchatayada, 
in  the  spring  of  1818,  it  was  due  only  to 
Captain  Miller's  prompt  gallantry  and  resource 
that  two  guns  were  saved  from  the  rout. 
For  this  he  was  rewarded  with  a  majorit}^  and 
shortly  afterwards  we  find  him  temporarily 
associated  with  the  redoubtable  Cochrane  off 
Valparaiso.  Each  was  a  man  after  the  other's 
heart,  and  Cochrane  was  delighted  to  have 
such  a  soldier  in  command  of  the  marines  of 
the  little  squadron  designated  for  the  blockade 
of  Callao.  In  an  abortive  attempt  against  the 
port  of  Pisco,  Miller  received  three  terrible 
gunshot  wounds.  One  of  these  permanently 
disabled  his  left  hand,  a  second  wounded  his 
right  arm,  while  a  third  passed  out  at  his  back 
after  fracturing  one  of  his  ribs.  No  wonder  that 
"  his  life  was  despaired  of."  Yet  this  in- 
domitable hero  was  out  and  about  again  in 
nine  weeks,  "  singeing  the  King  of  Spain's 
beard  "  to  good  purpose  and  utterly  destroying 
a  Royalist  force  at  Pampa.  For  these  notable 
services  and  honourable  wounds  he  was  pro- 
moted Colonel. 

After  this,  many  weary  but  crowded  months 
of  long  marches,  minor  battles,  and  severe 
privations  were  succeeded  by  his  appointment 


100  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

as  Chief  of  Staff  to  Bolivar.  In  assigning 
him  to  this  flattering  position  the  latter  wrote  : 
"  I  have  for  a  long  time  desired  to  know  you 
personally,  for  your  services  have  assured  to 
you  the  gratitude  of  every  American  who  is  a 
lover  of  liberty  and  merit." 

The  campaign  of  1824  opened  with  a 
Royalist  check  at  Junin,  where,  however, 
Miller's  cavalry  failed  to  make  much  impression 
on  the  Spanish  masses.  His  friend  Colonel 
Sowersby,  mortally  wounded,  addressed  him 
in  the  following  affecting  terms  :  "  My  dear 
Miller,  we  took  arms  in  this  cause  on  the  same 
day,  and  we  have  often  fought  side  by  side. 
You  have  witnessed  my  conduct — you  are  my 
oldest  friend  in  the  service.  I  am  too  feeble 
to  say  much — you  see  what  is  likely  to  happen 
to  me.  Write  to  my  good  old  father  and 
mother,  and  tell  them  I  fell  in  a  glorious  cause." 
A  sacred  charge  which,  we  may  be  very  sure, 
was  faithfully  carried  out  by  General  Miller. 

Although  he  had  unfortunately  missed  par- 
ticipation in  the  victory  of  Maipo,  Miller  was 
destined  to  play  an  important  role  in  the  still 
greater  one  of  Ayacucho.  Canterac  admitted 
the  fortune  of  war,  remarking,  "  General 
Miller  !      How  strange  is  this  dream  !     Who 


BOLIVAR  AND   MILLER  101 

would  have  said  twenty-four  hours  ago  that  I 
should  have  been  your  guest  ?  But  this 
harassing  war  is  now  over,  and  to  tell  you  the 
truth  we  are  all  heartily  sick  of  it."  Another 
distinguished  prisoner,  General  Valdez,  spoke 
in  pretty  much  the  same  sense,  describing 
Miller  as  a  hrujo  (wizard),  "  going  here,  there, 
and  everywhere  without  our  being  able  to 
penetrate  his  designs." 

Though  he  did  not  quit  the  soil  of  South 
America  for  perhaps  a  twelvemonth  after 
this  final  victory,  Miller's  work  for  the  good 
cause  was  at  an  end.  It  only  remained  for 
him  to  pay  a  round  of  visits,  receiving  the 
warmest  of  encomiums  from  Bolivar,  San 
Martin,  and  the  other  leaders  in  freedom's 
cause.  He  also  received  grants  of  land  and 
other  presents,  but  it  is  doubtful  to  what 
extent  a  man  of  his  high  character  and  absolute 
disinterestedness  would  avail  himself  of  such 
privileges.  He  probably  valued  much  more 
highly  the  honour  of  the  freedom  of  Canter- 
bury, conferred  upon  him  shortly  after  he 
returned  to  his  native  land  in  July,  1826. 
Paying  a  pleasure  visit  to  the  Continent  at  a 
slightly  later  date,  he  was  entertained  in 
Milan  at  a  public  banquet  by  a  number  of  the 


102  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

most  distinguished  officers  in  the  Austrian 
mihtary  service. 

"  South  America  will  always  claim  General 
Miller,"  wrote  Bolivar,  "  as  one  of  the  most 
glorious  of  her  sons."  His  chivalrous  instincts 
and  unconquerable  self-surrender  invested  with 
a  peculiar  gracefulness  and  charm  all  that  he 
achieved  in  the  cause  for  which  he  fought  and 
bled. 

There  are  plenty  of  romantic  and  other 
stories  concerning  General  Miller,  but  we  will 
content  ourselves  with  one.  During  one  of  his 
South  American  campaigns  he  was  accom- 
panied by  an  amazon  of  ferocious  aspect  and 
uncertain  age.  She  rode  astride  by  Miller's 
side  and  gave  him  much  useful  information 
concerning  the  enemy's  movements.  She  had 
devoted  her  whole  fortune  to  the  patriot 
cause,  and  she  "  wore  large  silver  spurs,  could 
manage  the  most  restive  horse,  and  was  able 
to  throw  the  lasso  with  anv  of  her  muleteers. 
Her  voice  was  louder  than  a  boatswain's  and 
as  shrill  as  his  pipe."  Miller  treated  her  with 
an  old-world  courtesy  that  she  appreciated, 
and  the  sequel  is  interesting.  Long  after  they 
had  parted  company  the  General,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Lima,   noticed  a  beautiful 


BOLIVAR  AND   MILLER  103 

and  picturesque  estate.  "  Whose  property 
is  that  ?  "  he  asked  of  a  countryman.  "  It 
is  the  Seiior  Miller's,"  rephed  the  man.  "  Who> 
then,  is  this  namesake  of  mine  ?  "  asked  Miller. 
"It  is  yourself,  sir,"  rejoined  the  man,  "  and 
my  mistress  vows  she  will  have  no  other  heir." 
Whether  General  Miller  ever  entered  into 
possession  of  this  generously-bestowed  property 
I  am  unable  to  say.^ 

'  He  returned  to  Peru  and  was  made  Graii  Marischal  iu  183^, 
and  later  Cominaudaut-Geueral,  but  was  deprived  of  Lis  rauk  iu 
1834,  reinstated  iu  1845,  and  died  at  Callao  while  ou  a  visit  iu  1861. 


CHAPTER    VI 

NORTHERN   AFRICA  :     ABD-EL-KADER 

The  long  and  chequered  struggle  waged  by 
the  armies  of  King  Louis  Philippe  in  North 
Africa  in  the  thirties  and  forties,  with  the 
object  of  establishing  a  French  Protectorate 
over  Algeria,  is  illumined  by  the  potent 
personality  of  one  great  outstanding  figure, 
dwarfing  and  obscuring  all  the  rest,  and 
elevating  to  a  very  high  level  indeed  the 
partisan  warfare  of  the  Moslem  against  the 
Frankish  usurper.  The  tyrannical  govern- 
ment of  the  Sultan  of  Algiers  had  been  badly 
shaken  by  the  bombardment  of  his  capital  by 
a  British  fleet  under  Lord  Exmouth  in  1816. 
But  it  was  not  until  1830 — the  year  of  the 
Revolution  in  France,  which  hurled  Charles  X 
from  the  throne  and  replaced  him  by  Louis 
Philippe — that  a  French  fleet  and  army 
appeared  off  Algiers,  compelled  the  surrender 
of  the  place,  and,  it  was  fondly  anticipated, 

closed  a  rule  of  military  despotism  and  naval 

104 


ABD-EL-KADER  105 

terrorism.  To  this  end,  an  army  commanded 
by  General,  afterwards  Marshal,  Clausel  was 
sent  out  to  take  possession  of  the  country. 
The  army  that  took  Algiers  in  1830,  by  the 
way,  was  commanded  by  the  General  Bour- 
mont  who  had  so  basely  betrayed  Napoleon 
at  Waterloo — a  service  for  which  he  was 
rewarded  with  a  Peerage  by  the  Bourbons. 

But  the  French  authorities  had  omitted  to 
reckon  with  the  power  of  Abd-el-Kader,  the 
Emir  of  Oran.  He  came  of  a  priestly  stock,  and 
therefore  was  able  to  preach  that  most  effective 
of  all  doctrines  in  a  Moslem  country — the 
jehad  or  Holy  War.  Sidi-el-Hadji-Abd-el- 
Kader-Uled-Mahiddin  was  born  at  Mascara  in 
1807,  and  was  able  to  trace  back  an  illustrious 
lineage  to  the  Caliphs  of  Fatima.  His  father 
before  him  held  the  priestly  power  which  he 
was  destined  to  wield  so  skilfully,  and  his 
election  by  the  combined  tribes  as  Emir  of 
Oran  made  him  generalissimo  of  their  forces 
in  the  struggle  against  France — a  struggle 
which  he  was  destined  to  direct  with  varying 
fortune  for  the  next  fifteen  years. 

The  first  to  measure  swords  with  him  was 
Clausel,  and  that  skilled  soldier  of  the  Napo- 
leonic wars — he  had  been  wounded  at  Sala- 


106  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

maiica,  where  he  was  second  in  command  to 
Marmont — could  make  Httle  headway  against 
guerilla  tactics.  For,  as  an  able  military 
writer  points  out,  Abd-el-Kader  "  grasped 
intuitively  the  conditions.  He  recognised  that 
his  soldiers  could  not  safely  meet  the  trained 
soldiers  of  France  in  open  battle.  His  personal 
ascendancy  over  the  warlike  nomads  of  the 
South  and  the  wild  Berber  hillmen  enabled 
him  to  play  the  strategist  from  wherever  his 
wandering  abode  might  be  over  a  vast  extent 
of  country.  For  years  his  bold  and  sudden 
strokes  bewildered  the  French  leaders.  He 
had  full  information  of  their  slow,  deliberate 
movements.  He  cut  communications  and 
swept  away  convoys."  Clausel  could  make 
little  or  no  progress,  and  his  first  campaigns  are 
chiefly  memorable  for  his  enrolment  of  regi- 
ments of  natives  for  service  on  the  border. 
These  organisations  received  the  general  name 
of  Zouaves,  from  the  Arabic  Zouaoua.  These 
Zouaoua  were  a  fierce,  more  than  quasi- 
independent  race,  somewhat  resembling  the 
Riff  tribesmen  of  to-day,  in  that  they  acknow- 
ledged no  real  sovereignty.  When  recruited  they 
were,  of  course,  officered  by  Frenchmen,  these 
including   the   famous   Lamoriciere,    Molliere, 


ABD-EL-KADER  107 

Verge,  and  Levaillant.  The  command  of  the 
first  battahon  was  assigned  to  the  brave 
Maumet,  and  that  of  the  second  to  Captain 
(afterwards  General)  Duvivier. 

Scarcely  six  weeks  after  being  enrolled,  the 
Zouaves  took  part  in  an  expedition  to  Medeah, 
exhibiting  excellent  qualities  in  this  their 
baptism  of  fire.  They  remained  to  garrison 
Medeah  together  with  a  tiny  detachment  of 
line  troops,  and  they  were  constantly  harassed 
by  the  enemy.  Hearing  no  word  from  head- 
quarters, and  having  beaten  off  numerous 
assaults,  they  evacuated  the  place  early  in 
1831.  Consequent  upon  a  "  misunderstand- 
ing "  with  the  authorities  at  Paris,  Clausel 
returned  home  to  be  raised  to  the  rank  of 
Marshal.  He  left  the  Bey  in  authority  at 
Medeah,  but  shortly  after,  an  expedition  under 
General  Berthezene  had  to  go  to  the  Bey's 
assistance.  On  the  return  march  of  this 
column  its  rear-guard  was  assailed  and  Ber- 
thezene shot  dead.  But  the  2nd  Zouaves, 
led  by  Duvivier,  rushed  to  the  threatened 
point  with  their  shrill  war-cry,  and  all  day 
long  these  fine  soldiers  covered  the  rear  until 
the  column  arrived  at  Mouzaia.  The  enemy 
had  not  captured  a  single  trophy. 


108  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Abd-el-Kader  next  gained  a  brilliant  victory 
over  the  French  in  what  is  known  as  the 
battle  of  Makta,  when  he  cleverly  expedited 
his  pursuit  of  them  by  mounting  1500  infantry 
behind  horsemen.  It  was  about  the  time  of 
this  French  reverse  that  the  growing  hostility 
of  the  Arabs  put  a  period  to  the  recruiting  of 
the  Zouaves,  and  presently  it  was  determined 
to  encamp  the  "  Army  of  Africa  "  close  up  to 
Algiers.  Marshal  Clausel  came  back  in  1835 
as  Governor-General  of  Algeria.  His  trained 
eye  was  quick  to  perceive  the  value  of  the 
contingent  he  had  himself  enrolled,  and  he 
immediately  included  it  in  a  great  expedition 
against  Abd-el-Kader.  This  enterprise  was 
not  very  successful,  though  in  another  against 
Mascara  (the  birthplace  of  the  Emir)  the  green- 
turbaned  Zouaves  fought  under  the  eye  of  the 
Due  d'Orleans.  The  Algerian  war  was  made 
up  of  similar  "  expeditions,"  and  the  province 
was  costing  France  not  only  a  huge  annual 
expenditure,  but  many  valuable  lives  by  sick- 
ness and  the  sword.  The  Zouaves  were  divided 
into  two  battalions  of  six  companies  each,  with 
power  of  increment  up  to  ten  companies  each. 

Early  in  1836,  a  third  expedition  was  directed 
against  Medeah.     This  time  Marshal  Clausel 


ABD-EL-KADER  109 

was  more  familiar  with  the  natural  difficulties 
of  the  defile  of  Mouzaia,  which  Abd-el-Kader 
again  defended  with  the  utmost  obstinacy. 
But  the  Zouaves  stormed  those  rocky  heights, 
where  they  could  easily  defy  the  enemy's 
efforts.  Nevertheless,  the  Marshal's  failure  to 
reduce  the  fortress  of  Constantine  led  to  his 
resignation  of  the  African  command,  and  he 
died  in  retirement  in  1842. 

Constantine,  the  principal  city  of  Eastern 
Algeria,  has  a  remarkable  history.  More  than 
two  thousand  feet  above  sea-level,  it  is  perched 
upon  a  chalk  rock  flat  at  the  summit,  and 
washed  by  a  stream  which  flows  away  through 
a  deep  ravine,  so  that  its  character  for  in- 
accessibility in  the  old  days  must  have  been 
well  deserved.  The  place  held  out  successfully 
against  the  Vandals,  but  was  stormed  by  the 
Arabs  in  a.d.  710.  It  was  a  prize  worth  the 
winning,  and  Clausel's  successor  in  the  com- 
mand. Marshal  Valee,  marched  in  force  against 
Constantine  in  1837,  piloted  by  a  Zouave 
battalion  under  the  Due  de  Nemours.  A 
regular  siege  was  resorted  to,  and  in  the 
assault  that  followed  our  turbaned  friends 
suffered  heavily.  Colonel  Combds  was  killed, 
Lamoriciere  was  as  usual  in  the  thick  of  the 


110  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

fray,  and  many  officers  were  maimed  or 
burned  by  the  terrifie  explosion  that  took 
place.  The  storming  of  Constantine  closed  the 
first  phase  of  the  struggle  for  Algeria,  the 
Treaty  of  Tafna  guaranteeing  to  France  the 
maritime  portions  of  the  province.  Marshal 
Valee  at  once  set  about  appointing  military 
governors,  "  civilising "  the  people  by  the 
establishment  of  schools  of  instruction,  etc. 
The  "  Army  of  Africa  "  at  this  time  mustered 
40,000  men  under  arms. 

A  pressing  danger  now  menaced  the  existence 
of  the  Zouaves  as  a  French  organisation — the 
danger  of  defection.  The  preaching  of  Abd- 
el-Kader's  jehad  so  worked  upon  their  fanatical 
minds  that  some  of  them  deserted,  and  carried 
to  him  the  benefit  of  their  military  training  ; 
these  deserters  were  subsequently  seen  at  the 
head  of  the  Emir's  forces,  but  happily  the 
mischief  was  checked.  After  a  hard  winter, 
during  which,  however,  they  were  reinforced 
from  home,  the  French  started  to  carry  the 
war  into  Abd-el-Kader's  country,  and  some 
tough  fighting  followed.  By  the  middle  of 
1840  they  had  reduced  several  fortified  towns. 
Many  heroic  incidents  are  recorded — Captain 
Gautrin  suffered  the  amputation  of  two  fingers 


ABD-EL-KADER  111 

rather  than  quit  command  of  his  Zouaves,  and 
on  another  occasion  the  French,  finding  their 
ammunition  run  short,  rained  down  rocks  and 
stones  on  the  picked  troops  of  the  Emir. 

Yet  the  resistance  of  Abd-el-Kader  was  only 
by  way  of  being  "  scotched,"  not  "  killed." 
It  was  felt  in  Paris  that  one  man  could  perhaps 
cope  with  the  situation  in  Northern  Africa. 
This  was  General  Bugeaud  ("  jiere  "  Bugeaud, 
as  his  men  affectionately  styled  him),  who  had 
won  his  spurs  under  the  great  Napoleon  and 
could  boast  considerable  experience  of  guerilla 
tactics  in  Spain.  He  now  had  to  confront  an 
adversary  who  was  a  living  embodiment  of  the 
Arab  saying,  that  "  war  is  stratagem  applied 
by  force."  From  the  start  Bugeaud  fought 
him  with  his  own  weapons  of  the  ruse,  the  raid, 
and  the  ambush.  Indeed,  shortly  after  his 
arrival  in  Algeria  in  1841,  the  General  carried 
out  a  successful  ambuscade  at  Takdempt  by 
concealing  a  portion  of  his  force.  ''  //  se  hat 
quand  il  vent,  H  ckerche,  il  poursuit  Vennemi, 
Vinquiete,  et  se  fait  craindre,''  St.  Arnaud 
admiringly  wrote  of  his  leader.  And  Bugeaud's 
own  words  to  his  Generals  when  he  called 
them  together  to  discuss  his  new  plan  of  fight- 
ing the  guerillas  with  quick-moving  columns 


112  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

alertly  handled,  were,  "  Vous  aurez  beaucoup 
a  ouhlier.'"  From  the  time  of  "  Pere  Buge- 
aud's "  advent,  the  power  of  Abd-el-Kader 
began  to  decline.  It  is  noteworthy  that  four 
Royal  Princes  of  France  participated  in  the 
subjugation  of  the  Emir,  viz.,  the  Due  d'Or- 
leans,  the  Due  de  Nemours,  the  Prince  de 
Joinville,  and  the  Due  d'Aumale. 

The  Treaty  of  Tafna,  which  Bugeaud  man- 
aged to  conclude  with  the  enemy,  was  a  semi- 
triumph  for  the  latter,  inasmuch  as  it  con- 
firmed Abd-el-Kader  in  the  government  of 
Western  Algeria,  though  he  recognised  the 
nominal  suzerainty  of  France.  The  meeting 
between  Bugeaud  and  the  Emir  on  this  occa- 
sion must  have  been  both  picturesque  and 
amusing.  Each  was  anxious  to  maintain  his 
dignity.  The  Arab,  for  instance,  would  not 
dismount  until  the  French  generalissimo  had 
done  so,  after  which  they  sat  together  in  the 
open  and  conversed.  Again,  when  the  audience 
terminated  Abd-el-Kader  did  not  offer  to  rise, 
but  this  proved  too  much  for  the  fiery  French- 
man, who  made  the  interpreter  explain  that 
"  when  a  French  General  rises  you  should  rise 
too."  Describing  the  meeting  subsequently 
to  the  Senate  in  Paris,  Bugeaud  humorously 


ABD-EL-KADER  113 

said,  "  While  my  interpreter  was  translating 
the  words,  I  took  Abd-el-Kader  by  the  hand 
and  lifted  him  up.  He  was  not  very  heavy." 
Bugeaud  was  ever  ready  to  share  the  priva- 
tions of  his  brave  troops.  He  had  risen  from 
the  ranks,  having  actually  enlisted  as  a  soldier 
in  the  Grand  Army,  so  that  he  was  a  living 
example  of  the  familiar  saying,  that  the  Mar- 
shal's baton  may  be  found  in  the  soldier's 
knapsack.  He  had  reached  Colonel's  rank 
when  he  fought  at  Waterloo  ;  after  the  Revo- 
lution in  Paris  of  1830  he  became  a  General ; 
and  some  six  years  later,  when  about  fifty, 
went  out  to  Algeria.  There  are  many  good 
campaigning  stories  about  him.  Perhaps  the 
best,  as  it  is  the  most  familiar,  refers  to  a  night 
attack  on  the  camp.  The  General,  uncere- 
moniously aroused  from  sleep,  rushed  out 
of  his  tent  to  find,  after  the  attack  had  been 
beaten  off,  that  he  was  still  wearing  his  night- 
cap. Amid  shouts  of  laughter  from  the  troops, 
their  commander  called  for  his  "  casquette  " 
to  be  brought,  and  this  so  delighted  the 
Zouaves  that  they  forthwith  composed  a 
doggerel  ditty,  with  the  refrain  : 

"  As-tu  vu  la  casquette 
Du  Pere  Bugeaud  ?  " 


114  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

It  was  obvious  that  the  Treaty  of  Tafna  was 
of  the  hollowest  description,  and  could  not  last 
long — in  all  likelihood  the  Gallic   conquerors 
of  Northern  Africa  did  not  intend  it  to  last. 
After  various  reprisals  on  the  part  of  Frank 
and  Arab,  Bugeaud,  now  created  a  Marshal  of 
France,  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  former 
triumphs,   this  time  with  plenary  powers  as 
Commander-in-Chief  and  Governor- General  of 
Algeria.    It  was  to  be  a  conquest  this  time,  not 
a   Protectorate,    and   Abd-el-Kader's    guerilla 
tactics  were  to  be  put  to  their  severest  test. 
Certainly  Bugeaud  was  the  man  to  cope  with 
the  situation — he  knew  by  this  time  how  to 
make  war  in  that  savage  land,  and  he  was  well 
supported  from  home.     It  was  now  the  era  of 
steamships,  and  the  veteran  Marshal  used  to 
coast  along  from  Algiers  to  any  given  point, 
in  a  small  vessel  that  always  had  steam  up. 
He  "  organised  his  forces  in  small,   compact 
columns — a  few  battalions  of  infantry,  a  couple 
of  squadrons  of  cavalry,  two  mountain-howit- 
zers,   a   small   transport   train    on   mule   and 
camel  back  ;    as  speed  was  the  first  considera- 
tion   he    employed    only    picked    men,    those 
inured  to  the  climate  and  to  fatigue.    A  strip 
of  canvas  served  as  haversack,  but  was  un- 


ABD-EL-KADER  115 

sewn  ;  three  of  these  could  be  joined  together 
and  thus  form  a  shelter  for  three  men.  This 
was  the  origin  of  the  famous  tente  d'ahri,  the 
only  form  of  encampment  for  a  large  portion  of 
the  French  army  in  the  Crimea."  By  these 
admirable  methods  of  celerity,  the  Marshal 
won  success  after  success  over  the  wild  followers 
of  the  Emir. 

Abd-el-Kader  was  acclaimed,  by  no  less  an 
authority  than  Marshal  Soult,  as  one  of  the 
only  three  men  then  living  (in  1843)  "  who 
could  legitimately  be  called  great " — the  other 
two  being  Mehemet  Ali  and  the  illustrious 
opponent  of  Russian  aggression,  Schamyl. 
It  is,  I  must  think,  an  interesting  coincidence 
that  all  three  of  these  apostles  of  liberty  were 
Mohammedans.  One  of  his  French  prisoners 
described  Abd-el-Kader  as  "  very  small  in 
stature,  with  a  long,  deadly-pale  face,  and 
languishing  eyes,  an  aquiline  nose,  small,  deli- 
cate mouth,  thin,  dark  chestnut  beard,  and 
slight  moustache.  He  had  exquisitely  formed 
hands  and  feet,  which  he  was  continually 
washing  and  trimming  with  a  small  knife." 
The  Emir  was  only  twenty-four  when  he  first 
took  up  arms  against  the  French,  and  though 
repulsed  from  Oran  he  waged  a  more  or  less 


116  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

successful  struggle  for  four  years.  It  was  not 
until  he  encountered  Bugeaud  that  the  star  of 
Abd-el-Kader  really  dwindled,  for  the  Marshal 
also  maintained  a  personal  ascendancy  over 
his  troops,  dissimilar  of  course,  but  not  un- 
worthy to  be  compared  with  that  exercised  so 
ably  by  the  Arab. 

There  were  many  young,  gallant,  and  highly 
trained  officers  in  the  army  of  occupation,  and 
none  more  so  than  the  dashing  Due  d'Aumale, 
son  of  the  King  Louis  Philippe.  He  was  at  this 
time  only  five-and-twenty,  and  as  dare-devil  as 
he  was  chivalrous.  The  young  Due's  chance 
arrived  when  word  was  brought  in  that  Abd- 
el-Kader's  smala — or  vast,  movable  head- 
quarters-camp containing  his  wives,  his  booty, 
his  horses,  and  a  whole  army  of  women  and 
retainers — presented  a  fine  opportunity  for 
attack.  The  Due  d'Aumale,  with  but  six 
hundred  worn-out  troopers,  had  travelled  con- 
tinuously for  thirty  hours  when  this  chance 
presented  itself.  A  great  chance  it  certainly 
was,  for  Abd-el-Kader  subsequently  stated 
that  sixty  thousand  persons  were  in  his  smala 
at  the  moment  the  blow  was  struck  !  Dis- 
daining more  prudent  counsels,  which  would 
have  delayed  attack  (for  his  nearest  supports 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   AliU-EL-KADER'S    "SMALA' 


ABD-EL-KADER  117 

were  nearly  twenty  miles  away),  the  Due 
with  his  six  hundred  sabres  rode  straight  at  Uie 
dusky  foe.  Their  success  was  stupendous, 
almost  paralysing,  in  its  completeness.  The 
"  bag "  of  some  4,000  prisoners  included 
Abd-el-Kader's  mother  and  his  principal  wife 
and  a  vast  treasure.  Well  might  St.  Arnaud, 
who  was  present  in  Algeria  at  the  time  (after- 
wards the  French  commander  in  the  Crimea, 
where  he  witnessed  another  and  widely  different 
charge  of  a  "  six  hundred "),  write  of  the 
brilliant  coup  de  guerre  that  "  it  was  good — it 
was  brave — it  was  magnificent."  Better  than 
all,  from  an  invader's  point  of  view,  its  moral 
effect  upon  the  waning  cause  of  Abd-el-Kader 
could  not  be  over-estimated.  "  A  smala,^^  says 
a  military  authority,  "  is  the  name  given  in 
Algeria  to  a  nomad  settlement — an  assem- 
blage of  families  or  clans,  or  even  at  times  of 
whole  tribes,  which  moves  from  place  to  place 
in  search  of  sustenance  or  safety  ;  with  it  go 
the  camels  and  herds  which  form  its  principal 
wealth.  The  General-in-Chief  had  ascertained 
the  approximate  position  of  the  smala,  far 
beyond  the  chain  of  defensive  posts  which  at 
that  time  marked  the  limits  of  French  sway, 
and  he  resolved  on  a  combined  movement  to 


118  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

attack  it.  The  Due  d'Aumale's  eolumn  con- 
sisted of  600  cavalry  and  300  foot-soldiers. 
The  mounted  portion,  pushing  on  ahead  of  the 
less  mobile  infantry,  came  suddenly  on  the 
great  gathering  just  as  it  was  taking  up  new 
camping-ground,  after  one  of  its  periodic 
changes  of  position ;  Abd-el-Kader  himself 
happened  not  to  be  present,  but  5000  of  the 
Emir's  regular  troops  were  on  the  spot.  The 
Due  resolved  on  a  bold  stroke.  Without  wait- 
ing for  his  infantry,  without  heeding  the  vast 
superiority  of  the  hostile  force,  he  attacked 
with  his  squadrons,  profiting  by  the  confusion 
in  the  smala  and  by  the  circumstance  that  his 
appearance  on  the  scene  was  wholly  unex- 
pected. His  success  was  complete — the  enemy 
was  utterly  routed — numbers  of  prisoners  were 
taken — and  immense  booty  in  camels,  sheep, 
and  cattle  was  secured.  And  the  banners  and 
the  treasure  of  the  great  nomad  chieftain  fell 
into  the  hands  of  this  insignificant  body  of 
cavalry.  The  most  decisive  reverse  suffered  by 
Abd-el-Kader  throughout  the  years  of  his 
struggle  with  the  conquerors  of  Algeria  was 
inflicted  in  what  was  almost  an  accidental 
encounter  with  a  few  troops  of  horse."  ^ 

^  C^allvvell's  Stnull  Wars,  pp.  60^  Gl. 


ABD-EL-KADER  119 

The  loss  of  his  headquarters-camp  precipi- 
tated the  flight  of  the  intrepid  but  now  despair- 
ing Emir  into  Morocco,  where  during  the 
winter  of  1843-4  he  obtained  the  powerful 
support  and  co-operation  of  Abder-Rhaman, 
the  Emperor  of  that  province.  Bugeaud 
promptly  sent  word  to  the  Moroccan  potentate 
that  he  must  dissociate  himself  from  Abd-el- 
Kader.  The  inevitable  negative  being  re- 
ceived, the  French  General  took  the  initiative 
without  reference  to  his  government  at  Paris. 
He  moved  in  the  direction  of  the  River  Isly, 
on  the  borderland  of  Morocco  and  Algeria, 
where  the  Moorish  army  was  believed  to  be 
concentrating.  This  happened  in  the  month 
of  June,  1844.  Meanwhile  the  Prince  de  Join- 
ville,  the  Due  d'Aumale's  brother,  was  operat- 
ing with  a  French  fleet  off  the  Moroccan 
coast.  He  subjected  Tangier  to  a  severe  bom- 
bardment, and  sent  off  post-haste  to  acquaint 
Bugeaud  of  this  fact.  "  Prince,"  replied  the 
veteran  Commander-in-Chief,  "  you  have  drawn 
a  bill  upon  me,  and  I  hereby  engage  to 
honour  it.  To-morrow  I  shall  execute  a 
manoeuvre  which  will  bring  me  within  touch 
of  the  Emperor's  army  before  he  is  aware  of  it. 
The  day  after,  I  shall  defeat  him  !  " 


120  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Rarely  has  a  prediction  been  so  precisely 
verified.  "  The  day  after  "  was  in  this  case 
August  14th,  1844,  and  on  that  date  the  French 
routed  the  vastly  superior  forces  of  Morocco  in 
the  great  battle  of  Isly — one  of  the  most 
decisive  conflicts  ever  fought  on  African  soil. 
Abd-el-Kader,  though  near  at  hand,  was  not 
actually  on  the  battlefield,  and  the  Moorish 
army,  estimated  at  45,000  strong  (nearly  all 
horsemen),  was  commanded  by  the  Sultan's 
son. 

The  night  before  the  battle,  Marshal  Bugeaud's 
chief  interpreter,  M.  Leon  Roche,  had  taken  the 
responsibility  of  arousing  his  master  from  sleep 
in  order  that  he  might  communicate  to  his 
officers  his  plan  for  crushing  the  enemy  on  the 
morrow — a  sufficiently  informal  proceeding, 
but  quite  welcome  to  the  volatile  commander. 
He  briskly  explained  that  although  they  would 
be  only  6500  infantry  and  1500  cavalry  against 
50,000  of  the  foe,  he  felt  certain  of  victory. 
"  You  see,"  said  the  old  war-horse,  "  they  are 
a  mob,  while  we  are  an  army.  We  shall  be  in 
the  form  of  a  boar's  head,  of  which  the  right 
tusk  will  be  General  Lamoriciere,  the  left  tusk 
General  Bedeau,  the  muzzle  General  Pelissier, 
and  I  myself  shall  be  the  ears."    It  fell  out 


ABD-EL-KADER  121 

exactly  according  to  this  prediction.  Bugeaiid's 
*'  boar's  head "  formation  proved  a  signal 
success — there  was,  indeed,  only  one  anxious 
moment,  when  Colonel  Morris  with  500  Chas- 
seurs d'Afrique  had  to  hold  at  bay  some  6000 
of  the  wild  Moorish  horsemen.  Eventually 
nearly  1500  of  the  enemy  were  killed  or 
captured,  and  a  huge  quantity  of  material  of 
war  became  the  property  of  the  victors. 

And  Abd-el-Kader  himself  ?  The  famous 
partisan  got  away  for  the  moment,  but  the 
terms  of  peace  exacted  by  France  from  the 
ruler  of  Morocco  made  a  first  and  essential 
condition  the  immediate  expulsion  of  the 
unfortunate  Emir.  The  day  after  Isly,  he 
being  reported  but  a  day's  march  distant. 
General  Yusuf  with  his  Spaliis  made  an  ener- 
getic attempt  to  effect  his  capture.  Yusuf, 
who  was  an  Arabian  ex-slave  in  the  French 
service,  cleverly  disguised  a  number  of  his 
troopers  in  native  dress  and  started  in  pursuit. 
Though  his  surprise  was  effected  the  wily  chief 
got  away  again,  however,  leaving  a  high 
official  and  some  documents  in  the  hands  of 
the  pursuers.  It  would  be  unprofitable  to 
attempt  to  follow  his  wild  wanderings  over 
mountain,  desert,  and  flood,  with  a  price  on 


122  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

his  head,  and  a  mere  handful  of  devoted  ad- 
herents. It  says  much  for  the  zeal  and  loyalty 
of  these  brave  men  that  for  three  years  after  the 
battle  of  Isly  Abd-el-Kader  remained  at  large. 
Even  in  the  end  he  was  not  taken,  but  came  in 
and  surrendered  to  the  Due  d'Aumale  (Decem- 
ber 22nd,  1847),  who,  fittingly  enough,  had 
succeeded  his  old  commander  as  Governor- 
General  of  the  province.  By  him  Abd-el- 
Kader  was  treated  with  all  honour  and  courtesy, 
and  being  sent  to  France,  remained  for  a  long 
period  in  a  free  and  easy  kind  of  "  captivity." 
The  close  of  Abd-el-Kader's  career  may  be 
briefly  outlined.  With  his  family  he  resided 
in  an  honourable  "  retirement  "  in  France  till 
1852,  when  Napoleon  III  was  tactful  enough 
to  release  him,  and  generous  enough  to  award 
him  a  pension  of  100,000  francs  per  annum. 
On  this  he  lived  successively  at  Broussa, 
Constantinople,  and  Damascus,  and  he  behaved 
so  admirably  at  the  time  of  the  deplorable 
massacre  of  the  Druses  in  Syria  that  the  French 
Emperor  sent  him  the  Grand  Cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour.  Meanwhile,  this  many- 
sided  individual  had  produced  a  striking  reli- 
gious-scientific work  which  was  translated 
with  the  title  of  Rappel  a.  V Intelligent :    Avis 


ABD-EL-KADER  123 

a  V Indifferent.  Abd-el-Kader  revisited  Europe 
in  the  sixties,  and  was  present  at  the  Paris 
Exposition  of  1867,  when  Napoleon  III  showed 
him  great  favour.  He  passed  away  at  Damas- 
cus in  May,  1883,  having  attained  the  age  of 
seventy-six  in  spite  of  the  great  hardships  to 
which  he  had  exposed  himself  during  his 
fifteen  years'  continuous  campaigning  against 
the  French. 

It  is  an  amazing  reflection  that  this  one  Emir 
provided  active  and  constant  employment  for 
most  of  the  leading  French  Generals  of  his 
fighting  days — Bugeaud,  Clausel,  St.  Arnaud, 
Changarnier,  Lamoriciere,  Canrobert,  Valee 
— defeating  many  of  them,  and  winning  the 
respect  of  all.  First  among  native  guerilla 
chieftains,  and  the  idol  of  his  wild  countrymen, 
his  name  will  survive. 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE    CAUCASUS  :     SCHAMYL 

'•  They  think  no  more  of  taking  a  life  than  of  taking  a  cup  of  tea." 

Daghestan  saying. 

To  the  thoughtful  student  of  nomadic  warfare, 
there  are  many  and  extraordinary  points  of 
resemblance  between  the  careers  of  Abd-el- 
Kader  and  of  his  famous  contemporary 
ScHAMYL  or  Shmayl  ("  Samuel  "),  for  nearly 
thirty  years  the  bitter  and  tireless  opponent  of 
Russia  in  her  long  and  arduous  struggle  for 
possession  of  the  Caucasus.  This  curious 
parallel  or  series  of  coincidences  may  be 
summarised  thus  :  Both  Abd-el-Kader  and 
Schamyl  were  of  the  Mohammedan  priesthood. 
They  were  immediately  contemporaneous,  the 
resistance  of  the  one  to  the  French  in  Northern 
Africa  lasting  from  1830  to  1848,  and  that  of 
the  other  in  the  mountain  ranges  of  the  Cau- 
casus from  1830  to  1859.  Each,  after  his 
different  methods  and  during  long  years,  held 
his  wild  and  savage  following  together  against 

124 


THE    CAUCASUS  :    SCHAMYL       125 

the  common  foe  by  personal  ascendancy  and 
by  continuously  preaching  the  jehad  or  Holy 
War.  Each,  after  enduring  the  most  varied 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  and  surviving  the  most 
romantic  of  hairbreadth  escapes,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  his  enemies  at  the  last.  And  each, 
after  the  bitterness  of  conflict  was  passed, 
received  not  merely  honourable,  but  generous, 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  his  conqueror. 

Schamyl  will  live  in  history  as  one  of  the 
greatest  partisan  captains  of  all  time.  He  saw 
himself  grow  from  young  manhood  to  old  age 
in  the  struggle  with  the  remorseless  might  of 
Muscovy.  "  The  greatest  Circassian  leader 
kept  the  Russians  at  bay  for  years  with 
guerilla  tactics  ;  his  cause  declined  when  he 
formed  his  followers  into  bodies  and  weighed 
them  down  with  guns."  Schamyl  was  born  in 
1797  at  Aul-Himry  in  Northern  Daghestan. 
The  child  of  a  Sufi  family  of  the  Mohammedan 
faith,  at  an  early  age  he  entered  the  priesthood 
and  rapidly  became  a  mollah.  From  this 
point  dates  the  growth  of  his  influence — very 
similar  to  that  of  Abd-el-Kader — over  great 
masses  of  men.  His  personal  ascendancy  was 
successful  in  uniting  the  quarrelsome  tribes- 
men    of     Daghestan — Lesghians,     Georgians, 


126  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Chechens,  and  others — against  the  rising  tide 
of  Russian  aggression  in  the  Caucasus,  whither 
it  was  steadily  spreading. 

First  a  word  as  to  the  ground  to  be  fought 
over  and  contended  for  by  such  unequal  odds. 
None  could  have  been  more  appropriate  for 
the  waging  of  a  guerilla  war  after  its  most 
approved  methods.  The  vast  mountain  ranges 
of  the  Caucasus  afforded  the  best  of  cover  for 
the  wild  mountaineers,  whose  elected  leader 
had,  however,  to  deal  with  a  diversity  of  types, 
of  religions,  and  even  of  languages.  It  is 
significant  of  his  power  to  influence  men  that 
the  genius  of  their  prophet-chief  triumphed 
over  this  peculiar  combination  of  difficulties. 
It  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  whole 
extent  of  Caucasia  and  Trans-Caucasia  runs  to 
some  300,000  square  miles,  and  though  he 
fought  over  portions  of  this  region  only, 
Schamyl's  sphere  of  operations  embraced  a 
sufficiently  wide  area.  Says  Colonel  de  la 
Poer  Beresford,  in  a  picturesquely  -  written 
description  : — 

"  This  land  of  mountains,  table-lands,  rapid 
and  shallow  rivers,  and  few,  but  good,  com- 
munications, was  the  home  of  Schamyl,  the 
famous  Tartar  or  Circassian  who,  for  so  many 


THE    CAUCASUS:    SCHAMYL       127 

years,  resisted  Russia's  onslaughts  with  suc- 
cess. It  is  now  a  Russian  province.  North  of 
it  is  the  country  of  the  Tchetchenges,  a  pro- 
vince of  Cis-Caucasia  ;  and  the  main  chain  of 
the  Caucasus  mountains  forming  its  southern 
boundary,  rears  its  mighty  wall  between  it 
and  the  sunny  vineyards  of  Kaketia.  On  the 
west  it  is  bounded  bv  the  land  of  the  Ossetes, 
wild  tribesmen  who  always  held  the  pass  of 
Dariel ;  on  the  east  the  Caspian  Sea  bathes 
its  shores.  It  is  an  ancient  land,  whose  old 
capital  could  tell  tales  of  Shah  Kalad  and  his 
son,  the  wise  Nushirvan.  It  was  they  who 
built  the  great  wall,  which  stretching  from  the 
shores  of  Derja-i-Chyzyr,  as  the  Persians  call 
the  Caspian,  up  and  past  the  citadel  above  the 
town,  is  often  lost  in  the  clouds.  Past  this 
barrier  the  wild  Kazars  could  not  pass  :  these 
iron  gates  closed  Persia  to  them.  The  vine, 
the  melon,  tobacco,  apple,  hemp  and  maize 
flourish  in  Daghestan.  Its  fauna  number  the 
royal  stag,  wild  boar  and  goat,  wild  cat,  and 
tur,  a  mountain-goat  with  fine  convoluted 
horns.  Its  rare  game-birds,  the  kouratch,  or 
partridge  of  the  hills,  woodcock,  pheasant, 
and  teal,  are  thinned  down  by  its  numerous 
raptores ;     amongst    these    the    royal    eagle, 


128  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

lammergeier,  ruff-necked  vulture,  kite,  raven, 
and  hawks  of  various  sorts  are  those  seen 
oftenest  by  the  traveller.  The  mountains, 
except  in  the  south-west  of  this  province,  are 
the  limestone  and  chalk  masses  which,  tossed 
and  tumbled  by  some  mighty  upheaval,  are 
pierced  at  rare  intervals  by  igneous  peaks  and 
outpourings  which  have  forced  up  their  way 
from  below.  The  lower  hills  make  up  for  the 
want  of  the  white  mantle  in  summer  by  their 
grotesque  and  fantastic  outline,  so  that  the 
province  is  not  inaptly  styled  Dagh-estan — 
the  land  of  mountains."  ^ 

In  1837  the  Tsar  Nicholas  visited  the  Cau- 
casus in  person  to  see  the  theatre  of  operations. 
He  arrogantly  remarked  to  some  of  the  chiefs 
in  conference,  "  Do  you  know  that  I  have 
powder  enough  to  blow  up  all  your  moun- 
tains ?  "  In  a  similar  strain  of  boasting 
General  Veliamonif  told  the  Circassians  that 
"  if  the  sky  were  to  fall  the  soldiers  of  Russia 
were  numerous  enough  to  prop  it  up  on  their 
bayonets." 

The  fact  remains  that  Schamyl  met  and 
defeated  in  succession  everyone  of  the  hostile 
commanders    dispatched    against    him — Yer- 

•  Journal  of  Royal  United  Service  Institutio?i)  1905. 


THE    CAUCASUS  :    SCHAMYL      129 

moloff,     Grabbe,     Vorontsoff,     Yevdokimoff, 
Prince  Bariatinsky.     His   wild  followers  had 
the  inestimable  advantage  of  rifles  (generally 
smuggled)   against  smoothbore  weapons,   and 
the  tide   of  battle   ebbed  and   flowed   during 
a  couple  of  decades.    At  one  time,  the  famous 
chieftain's  principal  hostage  was  the  Princess 
Tchatchavadse  with  her  baby  and  her  house- 
hold, who,  however,  received  kindly  treatment 
from  their  captors.     "  I  was  in  the  Caucasus 
in  1839,"  writes  Hommaire  de  Hell,   "  when 
General  Grabbe  returned  from  his  expedition 
against  Schamyl.    When  the  army  marched  it 
had  numbered  6000  men,   1000  of  whom  and 
120   officers    were   cut   off   in   three    months. 
But  as  the  General  had  advanced  farther  into 
the    country    than    any    of    his    predecessors 
Russia  sang  paeans,  and  Grabbe  became  the 
hero  of  the  day,  though  the  Imperial  troops 
had  been  forced  to  retreat  and  evacuate  the 
country    they    had    invaded.      All    the    other 
expeditions    were    similar    to    this    one,    and 
achieved   nothing   but   the   burning   and   de- 
struction  of  a  few  villages.     It  is  true  the 
mountaineers   are   far   from   victorious   in   all 
encounters  with  the  Russians,  whose  artillery 
they  cannot  withstand  ;   but  if  obliged  to  give 


130  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

way  to  numbers  or  to  engineering,  neverthe- 
less they  remain  in  the  end  masters  of  the 
ground." 

The  year  1840  proved  a  particularly  dis- 
astrous one  for  Muscovy  in  the  Caucasus. 
Fighting  always  without  artillery,  the  moun- 
taineers stormed  all  the  forts  along  the  sea- 
board, and  notably  Fort  St.  Nicholas,  where 
the  whole  of  the  garrison  were  put  to  the 
sword.  On  the  other  side  of  the  mountain 
range,  the  Russians  lost  29  officers  and  400 
men  in  the  battle  of  Valrik,  and  General 
Golovin  retired  to  winter  quarters  in  1840-1 
with  a  loss  of  three-fourths  of  his  whole 
command. 

Meanwhile  Schamyl — this  "  perpetual  gue- 
rilla," as  he  has  been  styled — coolly  divided 
Daghestan  into  twenty  provinces,  placing  each 
under  a  naih,  who  was  bound  to  provide  200 
horsemen  at  his  bidding.  The  male  population 
from  fifteen  to  fifty  were  armed  and  drilled, 
and  a  postal  service  and  foundry  for  ordnance 
established.  Schamyl's  personal  command 
consisted  of  a  thousand  superb  cavalry,  and 
with  them  he  annihilated  one  of  General 
Grabbe's  detachments  at  Dargo.  It  was  not 
until  1844  that  this  stronghold  was  stormed  by 


THE    CAUCASUS  :    SCHAMYL      131 

General  Voronzov,  who  had  been  given  plenary 
powers  by  the  Tsar,  but  even  then  "  it  was 
long  ere  that  mighty  spirit  was  brought  to 
acknowledge  defeat  ...  in  him  fanaticism 
was  tempered  b}^  deep  meditation,  and  cruelty 
by  an  instinct  of  statecraft."  ^ 

Space  does  not  admit  of  diarising  the  events 
of  this  extraordinary  internecine  warfare,  but 
we  may  discuss  a  few  salient  points.  Twice 
within  ten  years  Schamyl  was  hemmed  in 
and  surrounded  in  the  mountain  fastness  of 
Achulgo.  On  the  first  of  these  occasions  all 
were  i^ut  to  the  sword  save  their  illustrious 
leader  himself,  who  escaped  again  to  preach 
his  Holy  War.  The  outbreak  of  Russia's  long 
struggle  with  England  and  France  in  the 
Crimea  was  indirectly  of  the  utmost  service  to 
Schamyl,  who  received  material  assistance 
from  the  Allies  in  the  shape  of  money  and  both 
large  and  small  arms.  This  period  signalised 
the  high-water  mark  of  his  power  and  great- 
ness, for  it  witnessed  the  practical  expulsion 
of  the  Russian  power  from  the  Caucasus. 
But  with  the  close  of  the  Tsar's  larger  quarrel 
in  Europe,  troops  were  poured  into  the  coun- 
try, and  the  famous  chieftain  only  managed  to 

'  Skrine,  Expansion  of  Russia. 


132  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

hold  out  for  two  or  three  years  longer.  We 
have  previously  referred  to  the  absence  of  the 
artillery  arm  in  this  mountain  fighting.  "  It 
is  interesting  to  note,"  says  the  author  of 
Small  Wars,  "  that  artillery  is  often  not  only 
a  source  of  embarrassment  to  irregular  war- 
riors, but  becomes  a  real  danger.  Schamyl's 
cause  declined  when  he  increased  the  number 
of  his  guns.  He  would  not  abandon  them 
when  attacked  in  force,  and  was  driven  by 
their  possession  to  abandon  his  guerilla  tactics. 
In  the  instruction  book  to  the  Bokharan  forces 
occurred  the  passage  :  '  Special  care  must  be 
taken  of  the  guns,  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  strength  of  one  gun  is  equal  to  that 
of  a  thousand  soldiers.'  "  The  Russians  did  not, 
however,  find  the  Bokharan  artillery  at  all 
formidable.  General  Skobeleff,  in  his  cam- 
paign against  the  Turkomans,  used  to  say  : 
"If  I  had  the  right,  I  would  present  the 
Tekkes  with  a  few  old  guns."  Still,  it  would 
rarely  be  the  case  that  an  enemy  should  be 
deliberately  permitted  to  carry  off  his  artillery, 
for  even  when  this  compels  him  to  adopt 
unsuitable  tactics,  it  is  a  result  of  an  exag- 
gerated belief  in  the  virtue  of  the  guns  ;  and 
if  the  guns  are  captured,  the  moral  effect  is 


THE    CAUCASUS  :    SCHAMYL       133 

proportionate.  "  Much  of  this  artillery,  as  we 
have  said,  had  been  supplied  to  the  brave 
Circassians  by  the  two  great  Powers  who  were 
allied  against  Russia  in  1854-5  ;  and  the 
opinion  of  posterity  must  surely  be  that  those 
Powers  should  and  ought  to  have  stood  up 
for  the  autonomv  of  Da^hestan  at  the  Peace 
of  Paris."  So  far  from  this  being  the  case, 
nothing  whatever  was  done  by  the  two  Western 
Powers.  Schamyl  and  his  people  were  heart- 
lessly left  to  their  fate,  and  their  romantic 
country  became  merely  an  unromantic  pro- 
vince of  the  mighty  Muscovite  Empire. 

An  amusing  story  is  related  of  the  Russian 
General  Grabbe  while  he  was  seeking  to  run 
Schamyl  to  earth.  Grabbe's  camp  was  much 
annoyed  at  night  by  the  persistent  "  sniping  " 
of  the  Turkoman  riflemen — a  practice  which, 
in  our  own  wars  with  savage  tribes,  most 
notably  on  the  North-West  Frontier,  has  been 
so  favoured  by  them.  At  last.  General  Grabbe 
instructed  his  sentries  not  to  reply  to  the 
snipers'  dropping  fire.  Much  surprised  and 
disconcerted  by  this  new  and  unfamiliar  pro- 
cedure, the  tribesmen  cried  out,  "  Why  don't 
you  fire  back  at  us  ?  Do  you  despise  us  ?  " 
"  Go  to  bed — we  want  to  go  to  sleep,"  replied 


134  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

the  Russians.  It  is  added  that  Schamyl's 
sharpshooters  took  the  hint  and  "  sniped " 
no  more.  This  is  on  all-fours  with  Lord 
Roberts'  quaint  anecdote  of  one  of  his  Indian 
hill-campaigns.  He  says  that  the  hillmen 
grew  so  tired  of  being  met  on  equal  ground  by 
the  fine  sniping  tactics  of  our  Gurkhas  that 
they  shouted,  "  We  don't  want  you — where 
are  the  Sikhs  and  the  English  ?  They  are 
better  fun." 

Prince  Bariatinsky  was,  latterly,  command- 
ing-in-chief the  Russian  army  for  the  conquest 
of  Daghestan.  On  April  12th,  1859,  this 
skilful  General,  at  the  head  of  fourteen  batta- 
lions and  a  powerful  artillery,  managed  to 
wrest  the  fortress  of  Weden  from  its  attenuated 
band  of  defenders  after  a  noteworthy  siege  of 
seven  weeks'  duration.  This  obliged  Schamyl 
to  retire  into  his  final  stronghold  of  Gunib 
with  a  still-formidable  remnant  only  four 
hundred  strong.  Gunib  is  "  a  huge,  isolated 
limestone  mountain,  five  miles  long  by  three 
broad,  rising  4500  feet  above  the  valley 
below."  In  the  shelter  of  this  wilderness  the 
undaunted  rebel  continued  to  hold  out  for  yet 
another  term  of  weeks,  hungry,  shot-torn,  and 
desperate.     At  last  the  Muscovite  besiegers, 


THE    CAUCASUS:    SCHAMYL      135 

like  Wolfe's  soldiers  at  Quebec,  succeeded  in 
finding  an  accessible  path  up  the  mountain- 
side, and  Schamyl  was  compelled  to  confess 
that  he  could  do  no  more.  Accordingly, 
sending  for  Prince  Bariatinsky,  he  told  the 
Russian  leader,  "  My  people  are  weary  of  war, 
and  I  am  forced  to  give  in."  His  four  hundred 
devoted  tribesmen  were  by  that  time  reduced 
by  the  sword  and  starvation  to  a  total  of 
forty-seven — and  most  of  these  were  wounded 
men.  This  capitulation  was  ratified  on  Sep- 
tember 6th,  1859.  Gunib  is  really  a  place  of 
well-nigh  incredible  strength,  perched  ujDon 
the  summit  of  snow-capped  crags  which  look 
at  first  sight  to  be  absolutely  inaccessible. 

A  Napoleon  would  have  shot  Schamyl,  as 
that  tyrant  shot  Hofer  and  so  many  other 
fighters  in  freedom's  cause.  But  the  Tsar 
Alexander  II  accorded  the  Turkoman  leader 
treatment  as  least  as  honourable  as  that  given 
to  his  contemporary  Abd-el-Kader  by  France. 
First  of  all  "  interned  " — or  rather,  mildly 
detained — at  Kaluga,  he  was  removed  from 
thence  to  St.  Petersburg,  and  was  awarded  an 
annual  pension  of  a  thousand  pounds.  In  1870 
the  aged  patriot  asked  and  received  permission 
to  go  upon  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  a  journey 


136  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

from  which  he  did  not  return.  He  passed 
away  at  Medina,  in  Arabia,  in  March,  1871, 
full  of  years  and  honour. 

Of  Schamyl's  two  sons,  one  of  them  entered 
the  military  service  of  Russia,  while  the  other 
elected  to  seek  his  fortune  under  the  crescent 
flag  of  Turkey. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

CENTRAL   INDIA  :    TANTIA   TOPEE 

Had  this  remarkable  man  possessed  "  as  much 
personal  courage  as  he  did  military  ability, 
he  would  have  been  the  most  formidable 
antagonist,  except  the  Sikh  leaders,  we  had 
encountered  in  India  since  the  days  of  Tippoo. 
Robust,  active,  of  middle  height,  Tantia  Topee 
was  framed  to  bear  fatigue.  Cool  and  com- 
posed, with  keen  eye  and  fertile  brain,  he 
was  able  to  devise  endless  plans  ;  and,  although 
unable  to  risk  the  dangers  of  the  battlefield, 
he  was  never  daunted  or  abashed  by  defeat. 
By  sheer  personal  influence  he  drew  armed 
men  around  him  wherever  he  went,  and  is, 
perhaps,  the  only  authentic  instance  of  a  really 
able  soldier  who  inspired  confidence  without 
sharing  the  perils  of  his  men.  India  is  the 
only  country  in  the  world  where  such  a  phe- 
nomenon could  be  seen  ;  because  in  India 
alone  is  cowardice  not  held  in  contempt." 
This   high   commendation,    penned   by    one 

137 


138  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

of  the  historians  of  the  Lidian  Mutiny,  is  in 
no  sense  an  exaggerated  appreciation  of  the 
quahties  of  a  partisan  chieftain  who  assisted 
to  invest  the  closing  months  of  that  prolonged 
struggle  with  a  military  interest  which  few 
of  its  leading  incidents  possess.  His  daring 
resourcefulness  kept  a  large  force,  and  several 
of  our  most  reliable  leaders,  employed  in  the 
field  against  him  for  many  months,  and  at  one 
time  his  aggressive  movements  attained  such 
sinister  dimensions  as  almost  to  convey  to  the 
non-military  mind  that  the  strength  of  the 
revolted  Sepoys'  ability  for  prolonged  re- 
sistance had  been  considerably  underrated 
by  us. 

Tantia  Topee  (i.e.  "  weaver-artilleryman  ") 
was  by  occupation  a  weaver,  but  he  served  for 
a  time  in  the  Bengal  Artillery.  Equipped  with 
unlimited  powers  of  observation,  persistance, 
and  talent  for  organisation,  he  allowed  little 
to  escape  him  while  serving  his  term  as  a 
gunner.  After  quitting  the  army  he  entered 
the  employ  of  the  Nana  Sahib  at  Bithoor, 
and  to  that  dissatisfied  gentleman  he  proved 
of  the  utmost  utility.  So  much  so,  that  when 
the  Nana  threw  off  the  mask  and  took  the 
field  against  the  British  raj,   Tantia  accom- 


CENTRAL   INDIA :  TANTIA   TOPEE  139 

panied  him  in  the  capacity  of  "  chief  of  the 
artillery."  For  this  position  his  gunnery 
knowledge  in  some  sense  fitted  him,  but  in  the 
quality  of  physical  courage  he  was  ever  pro- 
foundly lacking.  With  his  career  up  to  the 
downfall  and  retreat  into  Oudh  of  the  "  Demon 
of  Cawnpore  "  we  have  not  to  do  here.  He 
comes  into  our  story  in  the  spring  of  1858, 
when  people  at  home  were  comfortably  assur- 
ing themselves  that  the  back  of  the  Mutiny 
had  been  broken.  As  it  happened,  a  most 
serious  phase  of  it  was  only  then  commenc- 
ing. 

At  the  opening  of  1858  General  Sir  Hugh 
Rose,  with  a  powerful  column  and  siege-train, 
was  designed  for  punitive  operations  in  Central 
India,  having  for  his  immediate  objective 
the  reduction  of  Jhansi,  the  stronghold  of  the 
notorious  Ranee  of  that  name  whose  fiendish 
massacres  of  English  men,  women,  and  children 
are  amongst  the  darkest  incidents  of  the  rising. 
Now  Tantia  Topee  had,  on  losing  touch  of 
Nana  Sahib,  ^  made  his  way  to  Jhansi  and 
placed  his  services  at  the  disposal  of  the  Ranee. 

'  "His  military  talent  inspired  Nana  Sahib  with  all  the 
capacity  for  resistance  that  he  ever  displayed.' — Hunter's  Indian 
Empire. 


140  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Sir  Hugh  Rose  had  perforce  to  move  so  slowly, 
and  had  so  much  to  do  en  route,  that  it  was  the 
height  of  the  hot  weather  (March  21st)  before 
his  little  army  sate  down  before  the  frowning 
walls  of  the  Ranee's  fortress.  The  sun  tempera- 
ture stood  at  130  degrees  ! 

Before  Sir  Hugh's  outposts  had  time  to  get 
in  touch  with  those  of  the  Ranee,  the  fertile 
brain  of  her  lieutenant  and  adviser,  Tantia 
Topee,  conceived  a  plan  for  bringing  in  a  large 
force  from  outside  for  the  relief  of  the 
threatened  fortress.  He  would,  so  he  told  the 
woman-soldier,  ride  off  to  Kalpi  and  would 
return,  in  a  very  few  days,  at  the  head 
of  an  army  not  less  than  20,000  strong.  The 
Ranee  acquiesced,  and  Tantia  swiftly  departed 
on  his  mission.  He  was  as  good  as  his 
word. 

Sir  H.  Rose  had  only  a  fcAV  thousand  troops, 
British  and  native,  for  the  leaguer  of  Jhansi, 
but  he  was  kept  well  supplied  with  forage 
and  vegetables  by  the  Maharajah  Scindia 
and  the  Ranee  of  Tehree.  Presently,  too,  he 
was  joined  by  a  fresh  brigade  from  Chandari, 
and  by  March  31st  so  considerable  a  breach 
was  made  in  the  defences  that  they  were 
deemed    to    be    almost    ready    for    storming. 


CENTRAL   INDIA:    TANTIA  TOPEE  141 

But  at  this  critical  moment  a  new  danger 
showed  itself.  Sir  Hugh's  flag-telegraph  on 
the  hills  to  the  eastward  of  the  city  suddenly 
signalled,  on  the  evening  of  the  31st,  "  The 
enemy  approaching  in  great  force  from  the 
east."  It  was  Tantia,  with  his  relieving  army — 
I  will  not  say  at  the  head  of  it,  for  he  "  had 
the  brain  of  a  soldier  without  the  heart " — of 
20,000.  If  we  were  to  keep  going  our  bom- 
bardment of  the  city,  we  had  only  some 
1200  men  wherewith  to  meet  this  attempt 
at  raising  the  siege.  But  during  the  dark  hours 
Sir  Hugh  made  such  eloquent  changes  of  dis- 
position as  enabled  him  to  deliver  a  successful 
attack  at  dawn.  He  himself  led  one  wing  of 
our  cavalry.  Brigadier  Prettyjohn  the  other. 
Terrible  execution  was  done,  and  all  the  enemy's 
guns  were  captured.  Tantia  escaped  back 
into  Jhansi,  and  1200  men  had  routed  20,000  ! 
On  April  3rd  the  British  carried  the  fortress 
by  storm,  with  a  loss  of  300  killed  and  wounded. 
Considering  all  the  circumstances  and  the 
pitch  of  fury  to  which  the  foe's  atrocities 
had  roused  our  soldiers,  it  is  not  perhaps  sur- 
prising to  read  the  ominous  words,  No  quarter 
was  given. 

But  Tantia  and  the  Ranee  escaped  with  a 


142  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

large  force  to  Kalpi,  supported  by  the  Nawab 
of  Banda,  and  here  amid  the  tombs  and  ravines 
they  gave  Sir  Hugh  battle.  This  was  not  until 
the  middle  of  May,  for  the  conquerors  rested 
three  weeks  in  Jhansi,  binding  up  their  wounds 
and  holding  a  memorial  service  for  the  poor 
unfortunates  murdered  by  the  infamous  Ranee 
— and  in  the  meantime  the  enemy  were  heavily 
reinforced.  They  knew  they  were  fighting 
with  halters  round  their  necks,  and  they  fought 
like  fiends.  So  severe  was  the  struggle,  and  so 
superior  were  the  mutineers  in  weight  of 
numbers,  that  at  one  time  our  right  flank  was 
in  actual  danger.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  at  this  crisis  of  the  battle  a  small  camel- 
corps,  which  had  been  organised  and  per- 
fected by  Sir  Hugh,  came  to  the  rescue.  "  At 
Kalpi  this  corps  acted  most  effectively  at  a 
critical  juncture.  The  rebels  had  skilfully 
concealed  their  strength  and  pretended  only 
to  threaten  the  British  left,  but  they  suddenly 
developed  a  strong  attack  against  Sir  H.  Rose's 
right.  The  infantry  were  being  forced  back 
by  stress  of  numbers,  and  even  the  guns  were 
in  danger,  when  the  Camel  Corps  was  rapidly 
transferred  from  another  part  of  the  field. 
The  men  dismounted,  charged,  and  completely 


CENTRAL  INDIA:    TANTIA  TOPEE  143 

changed  the  situation  ;    and  the  rebels  were 
in  the  end  defeated  with  heavy  loss."  ^ 

This  bold  initiative  of  theirs  had  been  en- 
tirely due  to  the  admirable  strategy  and  good 
generalship  of  Tantia.  General  Rose,  who 
was  himself  very  unwell  from  sunstroke,  may 
be  pardoned  for  having  supposed  that  after 
four  months  of  continuous  marching  and 
fighting,  during  which  Central  India  had  been 
traversed  from  Indore  to  Kalpi,  the  campaign 
was  at  an  end.  His  General  Order,  dated  June 
1st,  1858,  merits  mention  here  for  its  fine  and 
manly  tone,  and  as  coming  from  one  who  was 
not  ashamed  of  returning  thanks  to  God. 
"  Soldiers  !  "  he  wrote.  "  You  have  marched 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  and  taken  more 
than  a  hundred  guns.  ...  I  thank  you  with 
all  my  sincerity  for  your  bravery,  devotion 
and  discipline.  You  have  fought  against  the 
strong  and  have  protected  the  rights  of  the 
weak  and  defenceless,  of  foes  as  well  as  friends. 
I  have  seen  you  in  the  ardour  of  the  combat 
preserve  and  place  children  out  of  harm's  way. 
This  is  the  discipline  of  Christian  soldiers, 
and  this  it  is  which  lias  brought  you  triumphant 

'  Altijor  Calhvell^  >»/«//  Wars.  A  camel-coi-ps  was  seldom  seen 
in  the  Sepoy  Mutiny,  hut  as  long  ago  as  Sir  Ralph  Ahercrombie's 
expedition  to  Egypt  (1801)  one  was  employed. 


144  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

from  the  shores  of  Western  India  to  the  waters 
of  the  Jumna,  and  established  without  doubt 
that  you  will  find  no  place  to  equal  the  glory 
of  our  arms." 

So  far,  however,  from  being  subdued,  the 
brain  of  the  ubiquitous  Tantia  Topee  had  con- 
ceived, in  the  very  hour  of  his  discomfiture,  the 
boldest  of  counter-strokes.  Even  while  the 
above-quoted  address  was  circulating  in  the 
British  camp,  his  fresh  plan  was  being  put 
into  execution — for  with  this  prince  among 
native  guerillas,  to  think  was  to  act.  His  new 
scheme  was  nothing  less  than  the  reduction  of 
the  great  rock-fortress  of  Gwalior,  the  capital 
and  head-quarters  of  the  Maharajah  Scindia — 
the  latter  having  earned  the  peculiar  hatred 
of  the  mutineers  by  reason  of  his  unshakable 
devotion  to  the  British  raj.  What  finer  thing, 
then,  to  gain  possession  of  this  great  centre 
of  the  Mahratta  race,  by  fair  means  or  by  foul  ? 
Tantia,  it  may  be  inferred,  invariably  adopted 
foul  means,  and  this  was  no  exception  to  his 
rule.  Slipping  away  in  advance  of  the  main 
body  of  his  shattered  force,  he  easily  gained 
secret  access  to  Scindia's  stronghold,  where  he 
proceeded  to  mingle  with  the  numerous  dis- 
affected among  the  garrison.   The  rest  was  easy. 


CENTRAL  INDIA :  TANTIA  TOPEE    145 

The  late  Hon.  Lewis  Wingfield,  who  was  the 
Maharaj all's  guest  there  in  the  eighties,  penned 
an  interesting  description  of  the  once-im- 
pregnable Gwalior.  "  The  hill  or  rock,"  he 
says,  "  is  flat-topped,  long  and  narrow,  a 
picturesque  and  stately  object  by  reason  of 
its  isolation.  Its  extreme  length  is  about  two 
miles,  its  average  breadth  a  thousand  feet  or 
so.  On  three  sides  its  altitudes  are  absolutely 
inaccessible  from  below ;  on  the  fourth  its 
gate  is  reached  by  a  precipitous  and  winding 
path,  with  here  and  there  a  flight  of  rough- 
hewn  stairs,  up  which  the  traveller  is  borne  in  a 
dhooly,  a  species  of  palanquin,  or  on  the  back 
of  a  lumbering  elephant.  The  long  line  of 
battlements  which  crown  the  steep  scarp  is 
broken  by  the  lofty  minarets  and  fretted 
domes  of  the  lofty  but  now  ruinous  palace, 
which  rises  from  behind  a  row  of  zigzag  serrated 
parapets  and  loopholed  bastions.  At  the 
northern  end  where  the  sandstone  has  been 
quarried  for  ages,  the  jagged  masses  of  the 
overhanging  cliff  seem  ready  to  fall  on  the 
city  that  lies  below.  Midway  over  all,  grey 
with  the  moss  of  ages,  towers  against  the  clear 
blue  sky  the  giant  head  of  a  massive  Hindu 
temple.     The  dark  and  varied  silhouette  seen 

K 


146  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

in  the  afterglow  of  sunset  is  as  impressive 
and  remarkable  a  spectacle  as  may  be  met 
with  in  the  northern  provinces."  The  Scindia 
of  Mutiny  days  was  young,  active,  and  loyal 
to  the  core.  At  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the 
bloody  chapter  he  had  within  his  walls  10,000 
of  his  own  troops,  and  about  8000  horse, 
foot,  and  artillery  officered  by  Englishmen, 
who  had  their  wives  and  families  with  them. 
On  Sunday,  June  24th,  1857,  the  native  troops 
broke  out  and  massacred  the  European  men, 
women,  and  children.  It  was  a  red  day  for 
Gwalior,  whose  ruler  might  easily  have  con- 
verted Central  India  into  a  shambles  had  he 
not  remained  true  to  his  raj.  But  he  did 
remain  true,  and  presently,  along  with  the 
handful  of  Englishmen  and  ladies  who  remained 
unmassacred,  escaped  by  night  to  Agra,  sixty- 
five  miles  away.  Gwalior  remained  in  posses- 
sion of  the  rebels  for  nearly  a  twelvemonth. 
It  was  then  retaken  by  us  and  restored  to 
Scindia,  who  was  now  about  to  lose  it  again. 
To  return  from  this  brief  digression  and 
explanation  to  Tantia  Topee,  whom  we  left 
comfortably  preaching  secret  treason  in  the 
rock-fortress.  Quitting  it  not  so  secretly  as  he 
had  entered — for  he  took  with  him  a  number 


CENTRAL  INDIA:  TANTIA  TOPEE    147 

of  the  disloyal — he  rejoined  his  army  and  the 
Ranee,  who  rode  with  the  troops  like  a  man 
and  fought  like  a  tigress.  Scindia,  perceiving 
that  the  issue  must  be  put  to  the  touch  of 
swords,  marched  out  at  the  head  of  his  men. 
No  sooner  were  the  belligerents  within  striking 
distance  than  half  of  the  Maharajah's  forces 
deserted  to  Tantia.  Only  Scindia's  bodyguard 
made  any  resistance  worth  speaking  of,  and 
after  losing  heavily  they  got  him  away  to 
Agra,  where,  for  the  second  time  within  a  year, 
he  found  himself  a  throneless  fugitive.  This 
left  Tantia  and  the  Ranee  free  to  enter  his 
capital  (May  31st-June  1st,  1858),  and  they 
proclaimed  the  absent  Nana  Sahib  as  Peshwa 
of  the  Mahratta  Kingdom. 

Thunderstruck  though  he  may  have  felt 
at  Tantia's  daring  initiative,  Sir  Hugh  Rose  at 
once  put  his  troops  in  motion  again.  While 
dispatching  an  urgent  message  to  Brigadier- 
General  Smith  (who  was  operating  in  the  more 
central  part  of  Scindia's  country),  Sir  Hugh 
himself  moved  more  slowly  in  order  to  give 
time  for  Scindia  to  join  him.  This  brought 
Smith  first  in  touch  with  Tantia,  and  the  8th 
Hussars  delivered  a  brilliant  charge.  On 
June  19th  Sir  Hugh  himself  made  his  appear- 


148  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

ance.  Driven  back  under  the  guns  of  Gwalior, 
the  rebels  resisted  desperately  for  five  hours. 
The  vicious,  treacherous,  and  bloodthirsty 
Ranee  fell  mortally  wounded,  and  she  elected 
to  perish  by  suttee  rather  than  fall  into  British 
hands.  Tantia  Topee,  as  usual,  succeeded  in 
escaping  unhurt.  The  gallant  Sir  Hugh  Rose, 
having  reinstated  the  Maharajah  on  the  gadi 
(throne)  of  Gwalior  with  befitting  pomp  and 
ceremony,  finally  took  leave  of  the  little  army 
which  under  his  direction  had  done  such  glori- 
ous deeds.  He  was  really  ill  and  he  required 
rest. 

Retreating  in  a  westerly  direction,  Tantia 
found  himself  hotly  pursued  by  Colonel  Robert 
Napier.  "  The  object  of  a  pursuit,"  as  Major 
Call  well  points  out,  "is  to  convert  the  retreat 
into  a  rout  and  to  give  a  coup  de  grace  to  the 
formation  and  cohesion  of  the  beaten  force, 
already  seriously  shaken  by  what  has  gone 
before.  For  such  work  horse-artillery,  in 
conjunction  with  cavalry,  is  of  course  invaluable 
if  the  ground  be  suitable ;  in  the  Indian 
Mutiny  this  combination  on  more  than  one 
occasion  achieved  most  striking  results  in 
pursuit.  The  affair  of  Jaore-Alipore,  after  the 
defeat   of  Tantia  Topee   at   Gwalior,  is  a  re- 


CENTRAL  INDIA:  TANTIA  TOPEE    149 

markable  example.  Six  hundred  sabres  and  a 
horse-artillery  battery  under  Colonel  Napier 
were,  after  some  delay,  sent  in  pursuit  of  the 
rebels.  The  enemy  was  found,  4000  strong 
with  25  guns,  posted  in  a  favourable  position. 
But  the  stand  was  of  short  duration.  The 
rebels  were  routed  with  the  loss  of  all  their 
guns  and  baggage."  ^ 

But  the  wily  fox  was  still  far  from  being 
run  to  his  earth,  albeit  the  hunters  were  hot 
on  his  trail.  We  have  seen  that  Tantia  could 
still  count  upon  several  thousand  men  in  arms, 
though  Napier  had  taken  all  his  guns.  To 
remedy  this  deficiency  (and  incidentally  to 
put  new  heart  into  his  men  by  the  sack  of  an 
important  city)  he  headed  straight  for  the 
great  Rajput  State  of  Jeyj^ar,  whose  ruler  was 
an  ally  and  vassal  of  the  British.  To  avert 
any  possible  calamity  in  this  direction  Briga- 
dier Roberts,  who  lay  at  Nusserabad  with  a 
mobile  brigade,  broke  up  his  camp  and  by 
forced  marching  interposed  between  Tantia 
and  his  objective.  Thwarted  in  this,  the 
dauntless  rebel  flew  southerly  towards  Tonk. 
Here  the  Rajah  held  out  in  his  fort,  but  Tantia 
had  no  time  to  waste  on   mere   rajahs.     He 

1  Small  Wars,  p.  183. 


150  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

contentedly  plundered  the  place  and  carried 
off  the  valuables  and  four  pieces  of  cannon. 

This  magnificent  marauder's  proceedings 
during  the  next  two  months  of  his  dazzling 
career  are  of  a  character  fairly  to  beggar 
description.  Beset^ — beset  but  never  bested — 
on  the  one  hand  by  General  Roberts  and  on 
the  other  by  General  Michell,  he  could  do 
nothing  wrong  until  the  middle  of  September. 

In  a  running  fight  not  far  from  another  great 
Rajput  fastness,  Oodipur,  Roberts'  cavalry 
recaptured  the  guns  taken  at  Tonk.  Crossing 
the  Chumbul  River,  Tantia  with  splendid 
audacity  encompassed  and  plundered  the  large 
town  of  Jubra  Patum.  This  may  be  said  to 
have  been  almost  his  finest  feat  of  arms,  for 
though  eager  enemies  were  on  every  side  he 
coolly  compelled  the  payment  of  large  "  fines  " 
in  money  and  stores,  and  carried  off  about 
thirty  cannon.  These  did  not  remain  in  his 
possession,  however,  after  September  13th, 
when  they  were  cleverly  retaken  by  General 
Michell,  who  struck  a  heavy  blow.  On  October 
9th  Tantia  passed  the  Betwa  River  and 
plundered  Tehri,  which  was  friendly  to  us. 
His  obvious  intent  was  to  penetrate  into  the 
Deccan,  and  if  he  succeeded  in  doing  so,  even 


CENTRAL  INDIA:  TANTIA  TOPEE    151 

with  a  broken  and  shattered  force,  nobody 
could  say  what  might  happen.  "  This  was  the 
one  moment  of  great  peril  for  us.  If  Tantia, 
with  even  a  broken  force  of  7000  men,  entered 
the  Deccan,  he  would  in  a  week  have  been  at 
the  head  of  100,000  men.  The  Government 
was  really  alarmed,  but  as  the  danger  was 
greater  so  were  the  means  of  parrying  it 
greater,  since  Lord  Elphinstone  had  pushed 
up  a  large  force  of  European  and  native 
cavalry  to  render  the  hunt  after  Tantia  more 
effective  ;  while,  from  Kamptee,  in  Nagpore, 
to  the  Gulf  of  Cambay,  there  was  a  great  stir 
of  troops,  and  a  readiness  to  move  at  the 
shortest  notice  to  guard  the  passes,  and  fords, 
and  great  roads  southwards.  And  the  measures 
adopted  proved  to  be  effective.  Flying  by 
devious  routes,  he  sought  the  Nerbudda  again, 
but  being  headed,  he  turned  westward  and 
traversed  the  hills  between  the  Taptee  and 
Nerbudda  at  racing  speed.  Moving  into  Nimar 
he  actually  prevailed  on  1000  men  of  Holkar's 
Horse  to  desert  and  join  him,  and  with  this 
reinforcement  rode  off  to  Burwanna,  evading 
our  troops.  Finding  it  impossible  to  remain 
in  the  valley  of  the  Nerbudda,  he  once  more 
crossed  the  great  river  and  hurried  into  Malwa  ; 


152  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

not,  however,  before  he  had  been  hit  very 
hard  b}^  a  new  enemy — the  Camel  Corps  ; 
that  is,  infantry  mounted  on  camels."  It 
was  this  force  which  drove  Tantia  over  the 
river. 

The  beginning  of  the  end  was  nigh  at  hand. 
The  next  to  get  in  the  way  of  Tantia's  retreat 
was  Brigadier-General  Parke,  whose  flying 
column  achieved  the  notable  feat  of  "  flying  " 
241  miles  in  nine  days.  He  came  in  touch  near 
Chota  Oodipur,  where  the  rebels  as  usual 
had  the  advantage  of  position.  They  were 
speedily  bundled  out  with  heavy  losses,  and 
the  last  month  of  1858  was  spent  by  Tantia  in 
dodging  the  network  of  pursuing  columns.  In 
various  actions  he  lost  many  more  men  and 
elephants.  The  New  Year  found  him  joined 
to  the  notorious  Feroze  Shah  of  Delhi — who, 
like  Nana  Sahib,  was  never  captured — but 
this  could  not  last  long,  and  Tantia  finally 
entered  the  jungles  of  Cen.  .J  India,  a  fugitive, 
after  a  futile  attempt  to  penetrate  the  Rajput 
State  of  Bikanir.  Even  the  jungle  country 
could  not  hold  him  long  now,  however,  for 
a  price  was  on  his  head.  One  of  these  disillu- 
sioned countrymen  of  his  betrayed  him  in  his 
place  of  concealment  on  April  7th,  1859,  and  a 


CENTRAL  INDIA:  TANTIA  TOPEE    153 

few  days  afterwards  the  renegade  chieftain 
was  hanged  at  Sepree  after  the  usual  formaUty 
of  a  court  martial.  He  had  held  out  for  very 
nearly  a  year. 

This  supremely  bad  and  unusually  gifted 
man  was  by  far  the  biggest  brain  produced 
on  the  native  side  by  the  Mutiny  of  1857-8. 
A  few  more  like  him  and  India  had  inevitably 
been  wrested  from  the  English.  His  war 
record  was  stained  by  numberless  atrocities, 
in  which,  however,  he  was  assuredly  not  dis- 
tinguished above  his  fellows.  It  has  been  said 
of  him  that  for  all  his  daring  he  lacked  the 
essential  elements  of  physical  courage ;  be 
this  as  it  may,  he  had  the  power  of  planning, 
devising,  controlling,  the  luisurpassable  gift 
of  concentration,  and  above  all  the  high  quality 
of  never  knowing  Avhen  he  was  beaten.  On 
the  other  side,  he  would  have  been  simply 
invaluable  to  the  Government  forces  in  the 
work  of  crushing  out  the  revolt.  In  a  word, 
he  was  a  great  General — and  as  such  he  was 
acclaimed  by  Sir  Hugh  Rose  himself. 

The  conqueror  of  Tantia  Topee  —  for 
although  he  did  not  remain  at  his  post  to  the 
end.  Sir  Hugh  Rose's  brilliant  command  of 
the  Central  India  Field  Force  was  by  far  the 


154  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

greatest  factor  in  the  fight — Hved  to  succeed 
CoHn  Campbell  as  Commander-in-Chief  in 
India,  to  attain  Field-Marshal's  rank,  and  to  be 
raised  to  the  Peerage  by  the  title  of  Lord 
Strathnairn.  As  brilliant  a  tactician  as  he 
was  a  God-fearing  Christian,  to  him  by  right 
of  sword  belonged  the  honour  of  reconquering 
Central  India  for  the  Empire. 


CHAPTER   IX 

SICILY   AND    ITALY  :     GARIBALDI 

"  Who  wills,  goes  ;  who  wills  not,  sends." — G.  Garibaldi 

Such  an  immense  flood  of  literature  has  risen 
around  the  potent  personality  of  the  Liberator 
of  Italy,  that  it  is  proposed  to  take  here  only 
a  few  salient  points  in  the  great  guerilla's  life- 
story.  It  is  a  striking  one  enough,  and  in 
certain  of  its  aspects,  indeed,  quite  unparal- 
leled among  fighters  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  is  a  trite  saying  that  the  exploits  of  Gari- 
baldi put  in  the  shade  those  of  many  a  hero 
of  romance,  but  it  would  be  idle  to  deny  its 
truth. 

Surely  it  is  of  coincidences  the  most  striking 
that  Giuseppe  Garibaldi  and  Andre  Massdna — 
Napoleon's  "  enfant  cheri  de  la  victoire " — 
should  have  been  born  in  the  very  same  house 
at  Nice,  though  an  interval  of  forty  years 
separated  the  two  interesting  events.  Both 
were  of  particularly  lowly  parentage.  Massena 
was  the  child  of  a  tavern-keeper,   and  Gari- 

155 


156  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

baldi  the  lusty  offspring  of  a  poor  Nice  mer- 
chant and  fishing-smack  skipper.  So  he  was 
born  and  bred  to  the  caUing  of  the  sea,  and 
the  first  thirty  years  or  so  of  his  chequered 
existence  were  spent  in  fighting  pirates,  assist- 
ing at  revolutions  in  South  America,  and 
generally  making  himself  pretty  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  trade  or  profession  of  a  free- 
lance. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  House 
of  Bourbon  had  ruled  over  Southern  Italy  and 
Sicily  for  upwards  of  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years.  In  the  great  year  of  European  revolu- 
tion, 1848,  Palermo  rebelled  against  King 
Ferdinand  II,  and  actually  succeeded  in  hold- 
ing out  for  sixteen  months,  until  reduced  by 
dint  of  a  bombardment  so  bitter  as  to  gain 
for  that  most  detested  monarch  the  satirical 
sobriquet  of  "  King  Bomba." 

Though  he  had  previously  crowded  into  a 
few  brief  years  a  whole  lifetime  of  turbid  ad- 
venture in  Spanish  South  America  as  cattle- 
man, naval  commander,  teacher  of  mathe- 
matics, and  several  other  occupations,  Giuseppe 
does  not  appear  on  the  stage  of  European 
politics  until  1848.  In  the  previous  year 
Pope   Pius   IX   had  commenced  his  eventful 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :  GARIBALDI    157 

reign,  and  it  must  be  premised  that  Gari- 
baldi, whose  own  "  religion  "  appears  to  have 
embraeed  a  kind  of  crude  Pantheism,  was 
unfortunately  and  always  the  bitter  enemy 
of  Clericalism.  He  found  the  Sardinian  King 
Charles  Albert  besieging  the  Austrians  in 
Mantua.  Charles  Albert  had  not  much  to  say 
to  this  firebrand,  who,  however,  rapidly  raised 
an  irregular  force  and  performed  some  notable 
feats  against  the  Austrian  army  after  the 
collapse  of  the  Italian  resistance.  The  follow- 
ing year  found  the  Pope  fled  from  Rome,  and 
a  revolutionary  government  set  up  in  the 
City  of  St.  Peter.  This  was  much  to  Garibaldi's 
liking,  and  in  April,  1849,  he  drove  the  French 
under  General  Oudinot  from  the  gates  of 
Rome,  and  also  routed  the  Neapolitan  forces 
at  Palestrina  and  Velletri.  The  subsequent 
siege  and  capture  of  Rome  by  the  reinforced 
French  led  to  his  retreat  to  the  Adriatic, 
pursued  by  the  Austrians.  During  these 
operations  his  wife  Anita  died,  and  was  buried 
on  the  seashore. 

After  the  momentous  events  of  1849  Gari- 
baldi was  arrested  by  the  Sardinian  govern- 
ment, who,  rightly  or  wrongly,  feared  what 
such  an  incendiarj^  might  not  do  next.     On 


158  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

his  release  he  proceeded  to  New  York 
(where  an  extraordinary  popular  demonstration 
awaited  him),  and  during  the  next  few  years 
we  vaguely  hear  of  him  as  a  settler  in  the  New 
World,  engaged  in  the  peacefully  edifying 
occupations  of  candle-maker  and  merchant 
skipper.  In  1854  he  returned  home  to  that 
lovely  Island  of  Caprera,  which  is  so  indis- 
solubly  associated  with  his  fame.  But  his 
"  revenge  "  was  at  hand.  Italy  was  about  to 
strike  for  liberty,  and  it  was  widely  felt  that 
Garibaldi  must  be  the  one  man  for  the  situa- 
tion. In  fine,  Cavour  sent  for  him  to  Turin, 
and  during  the  campaign  of  1859  he  was 
engaged,  not  over-successfully,  in  opposing  the 
Austrian  power  in  the  passes  of  the  Tyrol. 

On  May  11th,  1860,  Garibaldi  landed  at 
Marsala  at  the  head  of  his  celebrated  Red- 
shirted  "  One  Thousand."  He  had  come  to 
set  the  Sicilies  free.  It  was  evident  from  the 
outset  that  on  his  thousand  heroes  he  would 
have  largely  to  depend,  for  the  picciotti — 
bodies  of  the  young  men  banded  together  for 
irregular  warfare — were  of  little  use  for  close 
fighting,  their  favourite  tactics  being  the 
picking  off  of  the  enemy  from  some  coign  of 
vantage.     But  then.  Garibaldi  was  a  guerilla 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :  GARIBALDI    159 

with  a  difference.  "  Garibaldi  viene  ! — he  is 
coming,"  was  the  word  on  every  hp.  By  May 
18th  he  was  in  sight  of  Palermo.  The  beautiful 
Sicilian  city  was  held  by  General  Landi  with 
some  18,000  good  troops  to  oppose  "  the  " 
Thousand. 

With  him,  as  second  in  command,  the 
Patriot  leader  had  Colonel  Tiirr,  a  Hungarian 
soldier  of  fortune  of  considerable  skill  as  well 
as  a  partisan  of  tried  capacity.  With  him, 
too,  was  Signor  Crispi,  then  a  young  man, 
destined  to  such  high  place  at  the  council- 
board  of  Italy.  Having  so  tiny  an  attacking 
force  at  disposal,  the  one  resource  for  Gari- 
baldi was  a  surprise  of  the  enemy  by  means  of 
a  night  march — and  this  "  March  of  the  Thou- 
sand "  is  one  of  modern  history's  finest  feats  of 
arms.  It  was  a  starlit  night,  and  Tiirr  called 
his  chief's  attention  to  his  favourite  constella- 
tion, the  Great  Bear.  "  It  smiles  on  you," 
said  the  Hungarian.  "  We  shall  enter  Pa- 
lermo." They  did  so  in  a  magnificent  fashion 
(May  26th-27th,  1860),  and  never  were  the  Red 
Shirts'  famed  leader's  favourite  tactics  of  the 
ruse  employed  to  finer  advantage,  for  he  skil- 
fully utilised  a  tiny  force  under  Colonel  Orsini 
to   delude  the   enemy   into  the   belief  that   a 


160  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

retreat,  rather  than  a  daring  coii'p,  was  in 
contemplation.  The  picciotti  flew  hke  hares, 
proving  beyond  dispute  that  their  usefulness 
lay  in  the  direction  of  picking  off  their  enemies 
from  safe  cover — nothing  more.  However, 
Sicily  was  freed  from  Bourbon  domination, 
and  by  June  20th  "  the  last  Neapolitan  soldier 
had  left  Palermo."  Exactly  one  month  after- 
wards, Garibaldi  gloriously  closed  his  Sicilian 
adventure  by  routing  the  Neapolitan  army  in 
the  Battle  of  Milazzo. 

On  September  7th,  the  Liberator  trium- 
phantly entered  Naples,  whence  the  King  had 
fled  with  his  family  to  Gaeta.  By  the  end  of 
the  month  Garibaldi  had  21,000  volunteer 
troops  at  disposal,  as  compared  with  the 
50,000  regular  infantry,  7000  cavalry,  and 
numerous  field  artillery  of  the  Neapolitan 
resistance.  Garibaldi  fixed  his  own  head- 
quarters for  the  defence  of  Naples  on  the 
watch-tower  of  Saint  Angelo.  His  defensive 
was  twelve  miles  in  length,  but  he  himself 
characterised  it  as  "a  defective  line,  irregular, 
and  all  too  long  for  the  troops  at  my  disposal." 
The  struggle  which  ensued  for  the  possession  of 
Naples  is  known  as  the  battle  of  the  Volturno. 
Garibaldi's   most  trusted   subordinate,   Bixio, 


o 


S 
< 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :    GARIBALDI    161 

was  at  Monte  Caro,  with  instructions  to  hold 
it  to  the  last  gasp.  "  If  you  lose  that  I  shall 
be  cut  off  from  Naples,"  said  the  Liberator. 
Very  nobly  did  Bixio  requite  the  trust  reposed 
in  him.  With  him  was  Garibaldi's  son  Men- 
otti,  who  performed  prodigies  of  valour  and 
self-sacrifice  with  his  regiment. 

Along  and  around  the  storied  gates  of 
ancient  Capua  flowed  the  bitter  struggle.  At 
first  the  tide  of  victory  favoured  the  Neapolitan 
arms — guns  were  taken  and  retaken,  and 
Garibaldi's  motley  "  outfit  "  were  frequently 
in  difficulties.  Jessie  White  Mario  tells  a 
charming  story  of  this  phase  in  the  battle  of 
the  Volturno.  "  Guessing  his  fasting  condi- 
tion, some  friends  who  were  present  conveyed 
to  Garibaldi,  by  two  British  tars  with  '  H.M.S. 
Hannibal '  on  their  caps,  who  had  been  plead- 
ing for  muskets  to  join  in  the  fray,  a  pail  of 
water,  a  basket  of  fresh  figs,  and  a  tin  of 
English  biscuits.  The  inhabitants  of  Santa 
Maria  having  quitted  or  shut  up  their  houses, 
no  more  solid  fare  was  obtainable.  As  we 
reached  him  with  these,  a  bright,  sunny  smile 
lit  up  his  serenely  serious  face.  '  What !  '  he 
said,  '  are  you  encouraging  the  Queen's  sailors 
to  desert  ?  '    '  Never  a  bit,'  we  replied.    '  They 


162  GUERILLA    LEADERS 


»  »> 


are  out  for  a  holiday  and  want  some  fun. 
In  a  short  time  thereafter  this  twelve  hours' 
battle  of  the  Volturno  terminated  in  a  great 
Garibaldian  victory.  Certainly  the  Patriots 
had  to  mourn  some  2000  killed  and  wounded, 
but  Garibaldi  took  2070  in  prisoners  alone. 
In  a  word,  the  Bourbon  power  was  most 
ungently  expelled  from  Naples. 

On  November  8th,  just  two  months  from 
his  victorious  entry  into  Naples,  Garibaldi  was 
received  by  Victor  Emmanuel,  for  whose  bene- 
fit he  had  drawn  up  the  following  brief  ad- 
dress :  "Sire, — The  Neapolitan  people  in 
public  meeting  assembled  have  by  an  immense 
majority  proclaimed  you  as  their  King.  Nine 
millions  of  Italians  are  united  to  those  other 
provinces  which  have  already  been  smiling 
under  the  happy  rule  of  your  Majesty  ;  and 
by  this  unity  has  been  verified  your  solemn 
promise  that  Italy  shall  belong  to  Italians 
alone  !  " 

It  can  scarcely  be  affirmed  with  truth  that 
the  man  whom  his  splendid  achies^ement  had 
placed  so  securely  on  the  throne  of  the  Two 
Sicilies  went  out  of  his  way  to  betray  an 
excess  of  gratitude  towards  the  Patriot.  On 
his  quietly  stating  that,  his  work  being  com- 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :    GARIBALDI    163 

pleted,  he  would  now  return  to  his  home  in 
Caprera,  King  Victor  said,  ''  But  how  will  you 
get  there  ?  There  are  no  steamers  running  to 
the  island."  "  If  necessary,"  replied  Gari- 
baldi, "  I  would  ask  mv  friend  Admiral  Mundv 
to  give  me  a  passage  on  a  British  ship." 
Eventually  he  returned  to  his  lonely  islet  in 
an  American  merchant  steamer.  The  common 
people  worshipped  him,  but  Victor  Em- 
manuel's Ministers  cherished  an  unworthy  dis- 
trust of  his  wonderful  influence,  and  he  re- 
turned home  with  about  thirty  pounds  in  his 
pocket — "  nearly  as  poor  as  when  he  wandered 
in  the  forests  of  South  America."  To  his 
secretary,  who  anxiously  informed  him  as  to 
the  state  of  the  exchequer,  he  smilingly  re- 
plied, "  Don't  be  anxious.  We  have  in  the 
island  plenty  of  wood  and  corn,  which  we  will 
sell." 

The  Times  special  correspondent  penned  at 
this  time  a  picturesque  description  of  Gari- 
baldi's appearance.  "  He  was,"  said  this 
writer,  "  a  middle-sized  man  and  not  of  an 
athletic  build,  though  gifted  with  uncommon 
strength  and  surprising  agility.  He  looked  to 
the  greatest  advantage  on  horseback,  since  he 
sat  in  the  saddle  with  such  perfect  ease  and 


164  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

yet  with  such  calm  serenity,  as  if  he  were 
grown  to  it,  having  had,  though  originally  a 
sailor,  the  benefit  of  a  long  experience  in 
taming  the  wild  mustangs  of  the  Pampas. 
But  his  chief  beauty  was  the  head  and  the 
unique  dignity  with  which  it  rose  on  the 
shoulders.  The  features  were  cast  in  the  old 
classic  mould,  the  forehead  was  high  and 
broad — a  perpendicular  line  from  the  roots  of 
the  hair  to  the  eyebrows.  His  mass  of  tawny 
hair  and  full  red  beard  gave  the  countenance 
its  peculiar  lion-like  character.  .  .  .  His  garb 
consisted  of  a  plain  red  shirt  and  grey  trousers, 
over  which  he  threw  the  folds  of  the  Spanish- 
American  poncho. ^^  His  only  weapon  was  a 
splendid  English  sabre,  and  this  he  once 
wielded  to  good  purpose  when  surrounded  by 
Neapolitan  cavalry  at  Milazzo. 

A  hundred  pens  have  deplored,  as  a  thou- 
sand tongues  did  at  the  time,  that  after  the 
stirring  events  of  1859-60  Garibaldi  did  not 
retire  to  rest  upon  the  laurels  he  had  so 
grandly  won.  Instead  of  this,  two  years  later 
found  him  the  self-constituted  champion  of  a 
people,  disunited  in  any  attempt  aiming  at 
the  abrogation  of  the  Papal  power.  The 
moment  must  have   been   a   painful   one  for 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :    GARIBALDI    165 

Victor  Emmanuel.  It  was  true  that  Garibaldi 
had  placed  upon  his  head  the  crowns  of  Naples 
and  of  Sicily  ;  yet  how  could  he  stand  idly  by 
and  see  the  great  Liberator  suddenly  organise 
an  onslaught  upon  the  French  troops  who 
occupied  the  Eternal  City — soldiers  of  the  ally 
of  Victor  Emmanuel,  Napoleon  III,  in  the 
struggle  waged  for  Italian  independence  and 
unity  in  1859-60  ? 

It  is  all  matter  of  history  how  Garibaldi,  by 
the  seizure  of  three  French  merchant  vessels  off 
Catania,  carried  his  slender  contingent  of  3000 
Red  Shirts  over  to  the  Calabrian  mainland  in 
August,  1862  ;  how  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
had  their  progress  towards  Rome  barred  by 
Government  troops  under  Generals  Cialdini 
and  Pallavicini,  with  instructions  to  compel 
their  surrender  ;  how  this  force  came  up  with 
the  guerillas  near  the  plateau  of  Aspromonte  ; 
hoAV  Garibaldi  was  twice  wounded  and  his  fol- 
lowers routed,  dispersed,  or  captured.  Of  the 
affair  of  Aspromonte,  he  himself  rather  theatri- 
cally wrote  (but  then  one  has  to  allow  some- 
thing for  his  state  of  mind  at  the  time)  : 
"  They  (i.e.  the  Government  troops)  thirsted 
for  blood,  and  I  wished  to  spare  it.  I  ran  to 
the  front  of  our  line  crying  out  to  them  not  to 


166  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

fire,  and  from  the  centre  to  the  left  .  .  .  not 
a  trigger  was  pulled.  It  was  not  thus  on  the 
attacking  side.  A  party  of  bersaglieriy  direct- 
ing their  shots  against  me,  struck  me  with  two 
balls — one  in  the  left  side  not  serious,  the 
other  in  the  right  ankle,  making  a  serious 
wound."  He  was  then  interned  in  Spezzia, 
and  after  his  release  he  remained  in  compara- 
tive quiet  at  Caprera  for  several  years. 

Englishmen,  and  indeed  freedom's  lovers 
the  world  over,  must  always  honour  the  name 
of  Garibaldi.  Nevertheless,  it  has  to  be  ad- 
mitted that  in  later  life  his  sheer  theatricality 
and  love  of  the  sensational  got  the  upper 
hand  of  him  and  on  several  occasions  led  him 
into  serious  blunders.  The  most  notable  case 
in  point  was  the  fiasco  of  1867.  Napoleon  III 
had  maintained  a  force  of  French  troops  in 
Rome  and  its  provinces,  as  if  resolved  to 
assert  the  independence  of  the  Holy  See 
against  all  comers  ;  but,  with  his  usual  fickle- 
ness, the  Emperor  deserted  Pius  IX,  and  en- 
tered into  a  Convention  with  Italy  (September, 
1864),  guaranteeing  to  withdraw  his  soldiers 
from  Rome  within  two  years,  the  Italian 
Government  on  its  part  agreeing  to  resist  any 
aggression  upon  the  Papal  territory.     But  it 


CAKIIiAl^DI    AFTER    ASPROMONTE 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :   GARIBALDI    167 

was  well  understood,  by  those  who  knew 
the  facts,  that  this  "  treaty  "  was  not  worth 
the  parchment  on  which  it  was  written  ;  and 
sure  enough,  no  sooner  had  the  last  French 
soldier  left  Rome  (Christmas,  1866)  than  in- 
trigues from  without  commenced.  Meanwhile, 
the  Catholic  nations  of  Europe  with  praise- 
worthy promptitude  recruited  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Papal  dominions  a  little  army, 
13,000  strong,  "  of  volunteers  representing  all 
classes  of  society,  from  the  noble,  whose  an- 
cestors fought  in  the  Crusades,  to  the  work- 
man and  the  peasant." 

During  the  first  half  of  1867  Garibaldi,  from 
his  head-quarters  in  Caprera,  enrolled  volun- 
teers from  all  over  Italy,  to  the  tune  of  30,000. 
These  men  were  avowedly  intended  for  service 
against  the  Papal  States,  yet  the  Government 
of  Victor  Emmanuel  took  no  steps  to  inter- 
fere until,  for  fear  of  France  intervening  in 
the  Holy  Father's  behalf.  Garibaldi  was 
"  arrested "  in  September  and  detained  at 
Alessandria.  A  few  days  later  he  was  set  at 
liberty,  and  continued  to  direct  the  operations 
of  his  somewhat  lawless  guerilla  bands,  one 
party  of  whom  distinguished  themselves  by 
plundering  the  churches  around  Bagnorea  and 


168  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

fortifying  the  convent  of  San  Francesco, 
whence,  however,  they  were  speedily  driven 
with  loss  by  the  Papal  Zouaves.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  in  the  ensuing  movements  Gari- 
baldi's son  Menotti  held  high  command  on  the 
one  side,  and,  by  a  coincidence,  a  Colonel  and 
a  Captain  de  Charette — namesakes  of  the 
Vend6an  partisan — on  the  Papal  side.  In  one 
of  the  minor  engagements  Pieter  Yong,  a 
Dutchman  serving  in  the  Pontifical  ranks, 
killed  sixteen  Garibaldians  with  the  butt-end 
of  his  rifle,  and  then  was  himself  killed  ! 

Garibaldi  did  not  leave  Caprera  until 
October.  He  first  went  to  Florence,  and 
thence,  having  gathered  about  him  some 
10,000  followers,  made  for  Rome.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  not  a  few  of  these  "  Patriots  " 
were  attracted  to  his  standard  by  hopes  of 
gain  ;  they  were  a  motley  assemblage  indeed, 
and  the  famed  "  Red  Shirt  "  had  generally 
disappeared.  En  route  they  carried  the  Castle 
of  Rotondo  by  assault,  though  not  without 
desperate  fighting  and  the  loss  of  five  hundred 
of  their  number.  At  this  point,  however, 
Garibaldi  discovered  that  the  French  Emperor 
had  at  last  dispatched  armed  forces  to  the 
assistance  of  Rome.    Hastily  falling  back  from 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :   GARIBALDI    169 

the  gates  of  the  Holy  City,  he  was  compelled 
to  give  battle  to  the  Franco-Papal  army  at 
Mentana. 

Here  he  had  the  advantages  of  a  command- 
ing position  and  marked  superiority  of  num- 
bers, for  the  Papal  forces  under  Generals  de 
Courten  and  Kanzler  never  numbered  more 
than  5000.  But  the  result  was  not  long  in 
doubt,  and  Garibaldi  fled  from  the  battle- 
field as  soon  as  he  saw  how  things  were  going, 
and  made  his  way  back  across  the  frontier. 
The  attempt  upon  Rome  had  failed  lament- 
ably. 


It  remains  to  speak  of  his  last  services  in 
the  field.  In  the  autumn  of  1870,  after  the 
downfall  of  Napoleon  III  and  the  declaration 
of  the  Republic  in  France,  the  old  war-horse 
organised  a  body  of  irregulars,  or  francs- 
tireurs,  to  assist  in  harassing  and  impeding 
the  onward  progress  of  the  German  invasion. 
He  called  this  force  the  "  Volunteers  of  the 
Vosges,"  and  in  their  operations  he  had  the 
assistance  of  another  of  his  sons,  not  Menotti 
this  time,  but  Ricciotti  Garibaldi.  Although 
not  eventually  successful,  this  contingent  par- 


iro  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

ticipated  in  a  good  deal  of  partisan  fighting 
with  varying  result.  After  the  capitulation  of 
Metz,  the  Germans  pressed  on  towards  Paris 
in  November,  1870,  their  14th  Army  Corps 
being  at  Dijon.  Garibaldi's  small  and  "  mixed  " 
force  was  at  Autun,  forty-five  miles  from  that 
place,  and  he  sent  forward  660  men,  under  his 
son  Ricciotti,  to  Montbard  ;  but  when  Gari- 
baldi fils  struck  a  small  Prussian  force  at 
Chatillon-sur-Seine,  completely  surprising  it, 
he  had  only  400  men  with  him.  This  brilliant 
little  affair  really  seems  to  have  been  a  model 
of  what  guerilla  tactics  and  strategy  "  in 
little  "  should  be.  The  incident  took  place  on 
November  20th,  1870,  these  400  irregulars  de- 
feating 500  trained  troops,  on  whom  they  in- 
flicted a  loss  of  186  men  and  8  officers.  A 
French  military  critic  has  pointed  out  that 
Garibaldi's  corps  on  the  whole  disappointed 
expectations,  though  it  did  some  good  work. 
It  laboured  under  the  disadvantage  of  being 
unpopular  with  the  peasantry,  partly  on  ac- 
count of  their  prejudice  against  the  Garibal- 
dians  as  foreigners,  and  partly  because  the 
latter  were  hateful  to  the  priests,  who  de- 
nounced them  as  atheists.  Thus  Garibaldi  and 
his  followers  did  not  meet  with  the  assistance 


SICILY  AND  ITALY  :    GARIBALDI    171 

which  they  had  a  right  to  expect  from  the 
people  whom  they  came  to  help. 

Further  minor  successes  were  gained  by  this 
little  force  in  January  and  February,  1871,  in 
the  surprise  and  destruction  of  the  railway 
bridges  at  Buffon  and  Fontenoy-siir-Seine, 
obliging  great  masses  of  German  troops  and 
material  of  war  to  be  diverted  to  a  more 
tedious  route.  On  January  28th,  Garibaldi 
still  had  his  head-quarters  at  Dijon,  and  a 
Prussian  brigade  under  General  Ketteler  was 
designed  to  dislodge  him.  But  while  the 
enemy  were  unskilfulty  manoeuvring  with  this 
laudable  end  in  view,  an  isolated  detachment 
of  theirs  was  fallen  upon  at  a  place  called 
Prauthoi.  The  assailants  were  a  portion  of 
the  French  garrison  of  Langres,  fifteen  miles 
to  the  south  but  on  the  German  line  of  com- 
munications, and  they  are  described  as  having 
been  "  composed  of  regulars,  gardes  mobiles, 
and  francs-tireurs.^^  The  conception  of  their 
attack  was  good,  but,  like  so  many  incidents 
in  the  same  war,  it  was  delayed  too  long. 
Nevertheless,  the  Germans,  who  retreated  in 
good  order  because  they  were  good  troops, 
owned  to  a  loss  of  6  officers,  108  men,  and 
their  baggage.    Shortly  after,  the  capitulation 


172  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

of    Paris    put    a    period    to    the    Garibaldian 
operations. 

Garibaldi's  well-known  hatred  of  Louis 
Napoleon  had  only  enabled  him  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  France  in  her  struggle  with  Ger- 
many after  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  Even  so, 
Gambetta  had  not  received  the  Liberator  with 
particular  cordiality,  though  placing  him  in 
command  of  these  "  Volunteers  of  the  Vosges." 
Their  historic  repulse  of  the  Prussians  under 
General  Manteuffel,  in  the  vicinity  of  Dijon, 
took  place  on  January  20th,  1871,  and  the 
German  commander's  estimate  of  the  tactics 
employed  against  him  is  known  to  have  been 
a  high  one.  Henceforward,  until  his  death  in 
1882,  Garibaldi  remained  for  the  most  part 
quietly  at  Caprera,  his  wounds  and  his  extra- 
ordinary exertions  having  finally  broken  up 
his  health.  While  his  talents  and  virtues  as  a 
soldier,  and  still  more  so  as  a  politician,  must 
always  remain  open  to  criticism,  his  place  in 
history  as  the  leader  of  Italian  independence 
is  for  ever  unquestioned. 


CHAPTER    X 

AMERICAN    CIVIL    WAR  :      MOSBY — MORGAN 

FORREST 

The  American  Civil  War  of  1861-5  produced 
several  of  tlie  most  celebrated  of  guerilla  leaders, 
principally  on  the  Confederate  or  Southern 
States  side.  Of  these,  three  stand  out  in  bold 
relief  from  among  their  gallant  fellows,  all  of 
them  Confederate  officers — in  such  bold  promi- 
nence, indeed,  that  it  is  a  little  hard  to  deter- 
mine whether  to  give  pride  of  place  to  John 
S.  Mosby,  John  H.  Morgan,  or  Nathan  Bed- 
ford Forrest.  All  were  superb  organisers, 
magnificent  fighters,  and  preuw  chevaliers  of 
the  highest  type.  On  the  United  States  side, 
of  course,  there  were  cavalry  Generals  who 
also  engaged  in  raids  on  the  grand  scale — e.g. 
Sheridan,  Pleasanton,  Stoneman,  Grierson — 
but  over  their  exploits  does  not,  generally 
speaking,  hang  the  halo  of  romance  which 
distinguished  the  doings  of  their  Southern 
adversaries. 

173 


174  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

JOHN    S.    MOSBY 

Colonel  Mosbv  is  one  of  the  few  survivors 
among  leading  participants  in  that  fratricidal 
struggle,  and  he  has  been  so  good  as  to  place 
at  the  disposal  of  the  present  writer  certain 
facts  concerning  his  own  considerable  share  in 
the    defence    of    the    Southern    Confederacy. 
Colonel  Mosby  is  a  writer  of  grace  and  charm, 
having  added  to  the  immense  literature  of  the 
Civil    War    the    fascinating    volume    entitled. 
With  StiiarVs  Cavalry  in  the  Gettysburg  Cam- 
paign.     This   book   is   a   defence   of   General 
J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the  chivalrous  commander  of 
the  mounted  forces  of  the  Confederate  army, 
for  his  absence  from  the  battlefield  of  Gettys- 
burg.     That   tremendous    conflict    (July    1st, 
2nd,    3rd,    1863),    wherein   the   Federal   army 
under  Meade   defeated  the   Confederate   host 
imder  Lee,  was  really  decisive  of  the  fate  of 
the  war  ;   and  Colonel  Mosby  eloquently  says  : 
"  General    Stuart's    report    of    the    campaign 
shows  what  were  my  relations  with  him  at 
that  time  ;    and  as  I  brought  the  information 
that  induced  him  to  ask  permission  to  cross 
the  Potomac  in  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  was 
chosen  to  command  the  advance  of  his  column, 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     175 

I  think  I  have  a  right  on  my  own  account  as  an 
actor  in  the  great  tragedy,  as  well  as  on  his,  to 
be  heard.  The  fatal  shears  cut  the  thread  of 
his  life  before  the  end  of  the  conflict  came,  and 
he  was  denied  the  opportunity  to  speak  for 
himself.  The  time  has  come  to  apply  the  test 
of  reason  to  the  Gettysburg  legend  to  discover 
who  is  responsible  for  bringing  upon  us  the 
Dies  irce  ! — dies  ilia  !  " 

Mosby  entered  the  war  as  a  private  soldier, 
and  even  in  that  humble  capacity  his  merits 
were  recognised  by  the  Southern  General- 
issimo, Robert  E.  Lee,  in  an  Order  of  the  Day. 
Promotion  speedily  followed,  and  the  sequel 
to  one  of  his  finest  feats  of  daring,  in  conducting 
a  raid  far  within  the  enemy's  lines,  was  this 
dispatch  from  Lee  to  the  President  of  the 
Confederacy  :  "  Mr.  President — You  will,  I 
know,  be  gratified  to  learn  by  enclosed  dis- 
patch that  the  appointment  conferred  a  few 
days  since  on  Captain  Mosby  was  not  un- 
worthily bestowed.  The  point  where  he  struck 
the  enemy  is  north  of  Fairfax  Courthouse, 
near  the  Potomac,  and  far  within  the  lines  of 
the  enemy.  I  wish  I  could  receive  his  appoint- 
ment as  Major,  or  some  official  notification  of 
it,  that  I  might  announce  it  to  him. — With 


176  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

great  respect,  your  obedient  servant,  R.  E, 
Lee,  General." 

The  enclosure  ran  :  "  Captain — Your  tele- 
gram announcing  your  brilliant  achievement 
near  Chantilly  was  duly  received  and  forwarded 
to  General  Lee.  He  exclaimed  upon  reading 
it,  '  Hurrah  for  Mosby  !  I  wish  I  had  a  hun- 
dred like  him.' — Heartily  wishing  you  con- 
tinued success,  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 
J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  Major- General." 

Here  follows  an  account,  in  the  veteran 
Mosby's  own  picturesque  phraseology,  of  the 
fine  feat  of  arms  which  won  him  the  above 
promotion  :  "  It  was  on  March  7th,  1863,  that 
I  started  from  Aldie  with  twenty-nine  men. 
It  was  pitch-dark  before  we  got  near  the 
cavalry  pickets  at  Chantilly.  Here  a  good 
point  was  won,  for  once  inside  the  Union  lines 
we  would  be  mistaken  for  their  own  men. 
We  passed  along  close  by  the  camp-fires,  but 
the  sentinels  took  us  for  a  scouting  party  of 
their  own  cavalry.  I  had  no  reputation  to  lose 
by  failure,  but  much  to  gain  by  success.  I 
remembered,  too,  the  motto  that  Ixion  in 
Heaven  wrote  in  Minerva's  album  :  '  Adven- 
tures are  to  the  adventurous.'  There  were  a 
few  guards  about,  but  they  did  not  suspect  us 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     177 

until  they  saw  a  pistol  pointed  at  them.  Of 
course,  they  surrendered.  Some  refused  to 
believe  we  were  Confederates  even  after  we 
told  them  who  we  were.  .  .  .  Joe  Nelson  rode 
up  to  me  with  a  prisoner  who  said  he  belonged 
to  the  guard  at  General  Stoughton's  head- 
quarters, and  with  a  party  of  five  or  six  I 
immediately  went  there.  An  upper  window 
was  raised,  and  someone  called  out,  '  Who  is 
there  ?  '  The  answer  was,  '  We  have  a  dis- 
patch for  General  Stoughton.'  An  officer 
(Lieutenant  Prentiss)  came  to  the  front  door 
to  get  it.  I  caught  hold  of  his  shirt  and  whis- 
pered my  name  in  his  ear,  and  told  him  to  lead 
me  to  the  General's  room.  Resistance  was 
useless,  and  he  did  so.  A  light  was  struck,  and 
before  us  lay  the  sleeping  General.  He  quickly 
raised  up  in  bed  and  asked  what  this  meant. 
I  said,  '  General,  get  up — dress  quick — you  are 
a  prisoner.'  '  What  !  '  exclaimed  the  indignant 
General.  '  My  name  is  Mosby.  Stuart's 
cavalry  are  in  possession  of  the  place,  and 
Stonewall  Jackson  holds  Centreville.'  '  Is 
Fitzhuffh  Lee  here  ?  '  '  Yes.'  '  Then  take  me 
to  him.  We  were  classmates.'  '  Very  well, 
but  dress  quick.'  My  motive  in  deceiving  him 
as  to  the  amount  of  my  force  was  to  deprive 


178  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

him  of  all  hope  of  rescue.  I  turned  over  my 
prisoners  to  Stuart  at  Culpeper  Courthouse. 
He  was  as  much  delighted  by  what  I  had  done 
as  I  was,  and  published  a  General  Order 
announcing  it  to  the  cavalry,  in  which  he  said 
it  was  a  feat  '  unparalleled  in  the  war.'  '* 

With  General  Stoughton  were  captured  a 
number  of  horses.  When  President  Lincoln 
heard  the  news  he  quaintly  remarked,  "  Well, 
there  won't  be  any  difficulty  in  making 
another  General,  but  how  am  I  to  replace 
those  horses  ?  "  ^ 

In  the  campaign  of  1864,  when  the  blood- 
drenched  country  was  calling  out  for  peace, 
Mosby  and  his  dwindling  band  of  guerillas 
("  My  command  never  consisted  of  more  than 
two  or  three  hundred  men,"  he  says  in  a  letter 
to  the  writer)  "came  up  against"  General 
Phil.  Sheridan,  then  operating  in,  and  woe- 
fully devastating,  the  rich  and  beautiful 
Valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  As  illustrating  the 
drastic  methods  of  anti-partisan  operators  in 
this  war  of  retaliations  and  reprisals,  I  extract 
the  following  from  General  Grant's  orders  to 
Sheridan  at  Winchester  :   "If  you  can  possibly 

1  A  familiar  Lincoln  story,  but  it  will  be  news  to  many  that  it 
originated  in  Mosby's  raid. 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORRP^ST      179 

spare  a  division  of  cavalry,  send  them  through 
Loudoun  County  to  destroy  and  carry  off  the 
crops,  animals,  negroes,  and  all  men  under 
fifty  years  of  age  capable  of  bearing  arms. 
In  this  way  you  will  get  rid  of  many  of  Moshy's 
men.  All  male  citizens  under  fifty  can  fitly  be 
held  as  prisoners  of  war,  not  citizen  prisoners. 
If  not  already  soldiers,  they  will  be  made  so 
the  moment  the  Rebel  army  gets  hold  of  them. 
Give  the  enemy  no  rest.  Do  all  the  damage  to 
railroads  and  crops  you  can.  Carry  off  stock 
of  all  descriptions,  and  negroes,  so  as  to  prevent 
further  planting.  If  the  war  is  to  last  another 
year,  we  want  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to 
remain  a  barren  waste." 

It  is  matter  of  familiar  history  that  the  ill- 
starred  Valley  did  remain  a  barren  waste,  but 
meanwhile  the  stories  of  Mosby's  adventurous 
daring  are  too  numerous  for  quotation.  Once 
he  narrowly  missed  capturing  General  Grant 
himself,  and  another  time  he  approached  so 
close  to  Washington  during  one  of  his  incur- 
sions— actually  within  sight  of  the  Capitol — 
that  he  cut  off  a  lock  of  his  hair,  and  asked  a 
woman,  who  was  passing  by,  to  give  it  to  Mi*. 
Lincoln  with  his  compliments.  It  is  not 
recorded  that  he  received  a  lock  of  the  Presi- 


180  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

dent's  hair  in  exchange !  Eventually  a  price 
was  set  upon  Mosby's  head,  but  he  vigorously 
and  successfully  defended  himself  from  the 
charge  of  having  followed  any  but  "  regular  " 
irregular  methods  of  war.  It  is  significant  of 
General  Lee's  high  opinion  of  him,  that  after 
the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
in  April,  1865,  Colonel  Mosby  was  placed  in 
command  of  what  remained  of  the  forces  of 
the  Confederacy  until  the  final  laying-down 
of  arms,  and  comported  himself  with  dignity 
and  fortitude  in  a  most  trying  position.  Many 
years  afterwards,  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  became 
President,  the  veteran  lived  to  hold  office  in 
the  United  States  Department  of  Justice. 
Could  the  whirligig  of  time  have  brought  a 
nobler  revenge  ? 

The  tributes  of  his  foes  in  the  war  were  not 
less  worthy  or  less  generous  to  Mosby  than 
those  of  his  friends.  Thus  wrote  President 
Grant  after  the  sword  had  been  sheathed  : 
"  Since  the  close  of  the  war  I  have  come  to 
know  Colonel  Mosby  personally  and  somewhat 
intimately.  He  is  a  different  man  entirely 
from  what  I  had  supposed.  He  is  slender,  not 
tall,  wiry,  and  looks  as  if  he  could  endure  any 
amount  of  physical  exercise.     He  is  able  and 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     181 

thoroughly  honest  and  truthful.  There  were 
probably  but  few  men  in  the  South  who  could 
have  commanded  successfully  a  detachment 
in  the  rear  of  an  opposing  army,  and  so  near 
the  border  of  hostilities,  as  long  as  he  did  with- 
out losing  his  entire  command." 

In  his  memoirs,  General  Phil.  Sheridan 
speaks  of  Mosby's  operations  in  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley.  He  makes  no  complaint  of  the 
Colonel's  method  of  fighting,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  says,  "  He  was  the  most  formidable 
partisan  I  met  in  the  war  " — though  Sheridan 
had  also  encountered  both  Morgan  and  Forrest. 


JOHN    H.    MORGAN 

During  the  great  war  days  of  1862-3,  the 
name  of  John  H.  Morgan  inspired  the  liveliest 
sentiments  of  disquiet  in  the  breasts  of  all 
sympathisers  with  the  cause  of  the  Northern 
States  in  their  bitter  struggle  against  the 
South.  He  seemed  to  be  ubiquitous  and  to 
bear  a  charmed  life.  Nothing  stayed  him, 
nothing  even  flurried  him.  He  elevated  the 
calling  of  the  partisan  fighter  to  the  eminence 
of  a  fnie  art.  For  a  long  time,  such  units  of 
the  Federal  forces  as  ventured  to  cross  his  path 


182  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

either  received  a  more  than  warm  reception, 
or  discovered  when  too  late  that  they  had 
entirely  misapprehended  the  character  and 
capacity  for  irregular  warfare  of  the  man  they 
thought  to  conquer. 

Morgan  was  generally  associated  with  the 
Western  section  of  the  fighting  that  covered  so 
vast  an  area,  and  the  major  portion  of  his 
exploits  were  performed  in  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Lidiana.  His  corps 
of  Rough  Riders  were  acclaimed  as  the  best- 
mounted  men  in  the  Confederate  service,  and 
their  splendid  "  blue  grass  "  Kentucky  steeds, 
the  finest  quadrupeds — it  were  as  well  not 
always  to  enquire  too  closely  how  they  were 
acquired — could  achieve  stupendous  feats  in 
the  way  of  forced  marching  over  the  roughest 
of  roads.  Well  might  the  brave  men  who 
bestrode  them  be  known  as  "rough"  Rides. 

It  is  proposed  to  deal  here  only  with  the 
most  celebrated  and  historic  of  Morgan's 
several  remarkable  incursions  into  the  North- 
ern territory.  He  had  two  brigadiers,  both  of 
them  men  on  whom  he  could  place  the  most 
implicit  reliance,  Colonel  Basil  Duke  and 
Colonel  Adam  Johnson.  With  their  co-opera- 
tion he  took  his  Rough  Riders  into  Kentucky 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     183 

in  the  summer  of  1862.  This  particular  enter- 
prise was  attended  from  first  to  last  with  the 
most  complete  and  thorough  success.  It  is 
perhaps  best  summed  up  in  the  words  of 
Colonel  Duke  himself,  who  says  :  "  Morgan's 
loss  during  the  entire  campaign  in  killed  and 
wounded  did  not  exceed  a  hundred.  He 
inflicted  a  much  greater  loss  on  the  enemy,  and 
captured  nearly  1200  prisoners.  He  entered 
Kentucky  with  less  than  900  effectives — his 
command  when  he  returned  to  Tennessee  was 
nearly  2000  strong.  It  was  admirably  mounted 
and  well  armed,  and  the  recruits  were  fully  the 
equals  of  the  original  '  Morgan  IMen.'  "  Their 
methods  were  decidedly  of  the  rough-and- 
readv  order,  but  thev  had  to  be  so. 

It  was  in  June,  1863,  that  General  Braxton 
Bragg,  commanding  the  Confederate  Army  of 
the  West,  sent  urgently  for  Colonel  Morgan. 
Something  had  got  to  be  done,  and  at  once. 
The  opposing  Federal  "  Army  of  tlie  Cumber- 
land "  under  General  Rosecrans,  heavily  re- 
inforced, was  massing  on  the  Tennessee  border 
in  preparation  for  an  onslaught,  while  the 
State  of  Kentucky  was  in  Federal  hands. 
What  was  to  be  done  if  the  situation  was  to  be 
saved  ?      Bragg    conferred   and   3Iorgan   sug- 


184  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

gested — only  too  eager  to  start  at  a  few  hours' 
notice  on  one  of  those  grand  forays  which 
should  lead  him  on  the  path  of  glory  and  of 
duty  to  the  flag  he  served.  That  was  always 
John  Morgan's  conception  of  what  he  had  to  do. 

General  Bragg's  idea  was  that  the  in- 
creasingly sinister  situation  would  best  be  met 
by  a  bold  and  sweeping  raid,  having  for  its 
objective  the  important  city  of  Louisville, 
Kentucky.  But  this  by  no  means  satisfied  the 
eager  and  fiery  Morgan,  who  pleaded  that  he 
should  be  permitted  to  extend  his  sphere  of 
operations  right  away  into  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
which  States  were,  he  pointed  out,  hurrying 
up  volunteers  in  great  numbers  to  the  assist- 
ance of  their  enemy.  General  Bragg  shook  his 
head,  however,  reiterating  that  Louisville  was 
to  be  his  objective,  and  there  the  raid  must 
end.  He  was  on  no  account  to  cross  the  Ohio 
River  into  the  State  of  that  name. 

Morgan  thought  otherwise.  Directly  his 
audience  of  Bragg  was  at  an  end  he  called  up 
his  second-in-command.  Colonel  Duke,  and 
told  him  what  had  transpired  at  the  interview, 
adding  that  it  was  his  deliberate  intention  to 
disobey  instructions  and  go  "  direct  for  the 
Ohio."     Duke,  who  was  equal  to  any  emer- 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     185 

gency,  quietly  acquiesced,  and  their  splendid 
array  of  perfectly-equipped  horsemen  at  once 
made  ready  for  what  was  to  prove  a  veritable 
death-race.  In  round  numbers  they  counted 
2460  sabres,  with  two  howitzers  and  two 
3-inch  Parrott  guns.  It  was  a  coincidence,  and 
a  grim  one  had  they  known  it,  that  the  day 
when  their  daring  enterprise  commenced — 
July  2nd,  1863 — was  the  second  day  of  the 
terrible  battle  of  Gettysburg,  which  was  de- 
cisive of  the  fate  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
The  Rough  Riders  crossed  the  swollen  Cumber- 
land River  so  unexpectedly  and  with  such 
celerity  that  they  were  able  to  hold  and  beat 
off  an  attempt  by  the  enemy  to  dispute  the 
crossing.  Morgan  led  a  thrilling  charge  which 
emptied  many  a  Northern  saddle,  and  then 
with  his  twenty-four  hundred  heroes  he  rode 
away  into  Kentucky.  Now  was  the  "  fun  " 
to  begin  in  earnest. 

At  dawn  of  July  3rd,  the  guerillas  reached 
Colombia,  stormed  it  in  another  wild  charge, 
and  made  for  the  Green  River.  Meanwhile 
the  Federal  authorities  had  been  telegraphing 
ail  over  the  threatened  States,  and  even  as 
they  marched  through  the  night  the  raiders 
could  hear  the  noise  of  the  axes  felling  timber 


186  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

to  obstruct  their  further  progress.  It  was  now 
July  4th  ("  Independence  Day  "),  and  finding 
400  infantry  under  Colonel  Moore  blocking  his 
way  at  Green  River,  Morgan  sent  in  to  demand 
his  "  unconditional  surrender."  The  Colonel 
had  the  bad  taste  not  merely  to  decline  this 
audacious  proposition,  but  to  put  up  so  good 
a  fight  when  Morgan's  men  proceeded  to  rush 
his  stockade,  that  ninety  of  the  assailants 
were  placed  hors  de  coynbat  within  a  quarter 
of  an  hour.  So  the  Confederate  leader,  not 
relishing  this  at  all,  left  the  enemy  where  he 
was  and  crossed  the  stream  lower  down,  his 
next  objective  being  the  thriving  town  of 
Lebanon.  This  place  was  garrisoned  by  the 
20th  Kentucky  Regiment,  but  Morgan,  hearing 
that  reinforcements  were  on  the  way  to  them, 
attacked  at  once  and  with  the  utmost  fury. 
This  time  his  men  carried  the  place,  but  not 
before  they  had  lost  another  fifty  killed  and 
wounded — making  140  casualties  in  two 
engagements.  At  Lebanon  fell  Morgan's 
brother  Tom,  a  promising  young  Lieutenant 
in  the  2nd  Kentucky.  (It  will  be  perceived 
that  Kentucky  men  were  fighting  on  both 
sides,  as  they  did  throughout  this  deplorable 
war.) 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     187 

On,  on  sped  the  valiant  and  dreaded  raiders, 
twenty-one  out  of  every  twenty-four  hours  in 
the  saddle.  "  Tapping  the  telegraph,"  i.e. 
taking  down  the  telegraph  wires  in  order  to 
mislead  the  enemy  by  means  of  false  messages, 
was  a  favourite  diversion  with  Morgan.  He 
practised  it  with  the  utmost  success  until  the 
Federal  authorities  became  too  wary  for  the 
ruse  to  be  longer  successful.  Louisville  was 
already  in  a  panic,  since,  of  course,  it  could 
not  be  known  there  that  Morgan  intended 
merely  to  threaten,  not  to  raid  the  city.  So 
widespread  was  the  effect  of  his  sudden  move- 
ment, that  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  120,000 
militiamen  took  the  field  against  2000  irregular 
horsemen — moreover,  this  mass  of  militia  was 
backed  up  by  three  brigades  of  United  States 
cavalry  !  On  the  morning  of  July  8th,  or  less 
than  six  days  from  the  start  of  his  enterprise, 
Morgan  reached  the  Ohio.  He  had  done  more 
than  everything  that  duty  and  General  Bragg 
had  commanded,  for  three  States  were  utterly 
demoralised  and  dumbfounded  at  the  boldness 
of  his  magnificent  conception.  Not  that 
"  magnificent  "  was  the  word  applied  to  it  by 
the  Federal  foe,  for  Morgan  had  to  burn  in 
order  to  render  his  raid  a  real  devastation, 


188  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

and    his    men    had    to   plunder    in    order    to 
subsist. 

His  followers  proceeded  to  cross  the  Ohio  at 
Brandenburg,  with  the  timely  assistance  of 
two  steamboats  which  they  "  commandeered." 
Suddenly,  and  while  yet  a  portion  of  the  raiders 
were  on  the  Kentucky  shore  and  others  on  the 
Indiana  bank  of  the  great  river,  a  hostile  gun- 
boat hove  in  sight  and  began  to  shell  the  cross- 
ing. This  was  a  critical  moment  indeed,  but 
once  again  John  Morgan  rose  to  the  occasion. 
By  skilled  and  masterly  use  of  his  four  small 
guns  he  beat  off  the  gunboat,  and  the  crossing 
proceeded.  Then,  Hey,  away  !  as  if  for 
Indianapolis,  the  capital  of  Indiana,  but  they 
swerved  aside  so  as  to  leave  that  city  on  their 
left.  A  running  fight  went  on  continuously 
now,  for  the  countryside  was  in  an  uproar. 
At  a  place  called  Corydon  some  sixteen  of  the 
raiders  bit  the  dust  in  a  very  pretty  skirmish. 
Most  of  their  "  blue  grass  "  horses  were  long 
since  done  for,  and  every  available  animal 
that  had  any  pace  in  him  was  "  borrowed  " 
and  ridden  to  death.  Turn  we  for  a  moment 
from  the  grim  business  of  the  fight,  to 
give  a  personal  experience  as  related  by  one 
of    the    Federal    officers    detailed    to    arrest 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST      189 

the  Rough  Riders'  progress.  This  authority 
says  : 

"  During  the  famous  John  Morgan  raid 
through  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Indiana,  my 
command  was  sent  up  the  Ohio  to  prevent  the 
escape  of  the  '  rough  rider  '  and  his  lawless 
followers.  We  reached  Pomeroy  early  in  the 
morning,  and  found  the  inhabitants  of  that 
straggling  little  town  in  a  state  of  the  most 
intense  excitement  over  the  rumoured  approach 
of  the  enemy.  At  first  we  veterans  did  not 
credit  the  statements  of  citizen  scouts,  but  a 
small  detachment  of  soldiers  reported  Morgan, 
with  his  whole  command,  rapidly  approaching. 
The  brigade  immediately  disembarked  and 
hurried  to  the  front,  while  I  was  directed  by 

General  H to  collect  the  numerous  squads 

and  straggling  bands  of  armed  citizens,  effect 
an  organisation,  and  follow  after  the  command. 
I  immediately  gave  my  orders  to  a  score  or 
more  of  volunteer  aids,  and  in  twenty  minutes 
we  had  five  hundred  of  Ohio's  stalwart  youths 
and  grey-haired  sires  and  grandsires,  armed 
with  squirrel-rifles,  superannuated  muskets, 
revolvers,  pistols,  sabres,  swords,  etc.,  and 
every  mother's  son  of  them  spoiling  for  a  fight. 
Not  one  of  them  had  ever  seen  a  soldier  before. 


190  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

and  they  had  no  more  idea  of  discipHne  and 
drill  than  had  a  Rebel  private  of  the '  rights  '  for 
which  he  was  fighting.  But  this  was  no  time 
for  instruction  in  the  mysteries  of  war ;  so  I 
formed  them  into  two  ranks,  and  telling  them 
off  into  companies  of  one  hundred  men  each, 
selected  the  most  intelligent  for  officers.  Before 
going  out  to  battle  it  was  necessary  to  select  a 
'  Colonel  ' ;  and  riding  along  the  entire  line, 
I  espied  at  the  head  of  the  column  a  venerable- 
looking,  grey-haired  man,  who  looked  fight  in 
every  glance  of  his  twinkling  blue  eye — 
commissioned  him  Colonel  '  on  the  field  ' — and 
proposed  three  cheers  and  a  tiger  in  honour  of 
his  promotion,  which  were  given  with  a  will. 
All  was  now  in  readiness,  and  giving  the 
Colonel  direction  to  move  out  double-quick 
and  follow  me,  I  rode  to  the  head  of  the  column. 
I  noticed  a  little  hesitation  on  the  part  of  that 
worthy  and  high  official,  but  it  was  only 
momentary.  He  moved  rapidly  to  the  front 
and  centre,  halted,  faced  about,  and  gave  the 
following  command  in  the  dialect  peculiar  to 
Southern  Ohio  :  '  Look  wild  thar  !  tote  yer 
guns  !  Prepare  to  thicken  and  march  end- 
ways !  Go-aflukin' — git !  '  And  amid  such  a 
yell  as  was  never  before  heard  in  those  regions, 


o 
o 


> 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     191 

the  gallant  Colonel  dashed  off  in  search  of  the 
greybacks,  followed  by  his  impatient  command. 
It  is  needless  to  add  that  these  rustic  soldiers 
contributed  not  a  little  to  the  capture  of 
Morgan  ;  but  I  doubt  if  even  General  Casey 
himself,  the  prince  of  tacticians,  could  have 
executed  the  march  '  by  the  right  flank,' 
'  double-quick,'  in  the  requisite  number  of 
'  times  '  and  '  motions  '  after  the  Colonel's 
commands." 

To  resume  our  narrative  of  the  raid.  Morgan 
might  easily  have  captured  the  fine  city  of 
Cincinnati,  for  not  only  was  it  within  his  grasp 
and  absolutely  defenceless,  but  he  could  have 
utilised  any  number  of  ferry-steamers  on  the 
Ohio.  Moreover,  it  certainly  was  not  because 
his  men  as  well  as  his  horses  were  now  fallinc? 
out  from  sheer  fatigue  that  the  bold  "  Rebel  " 
did  not  occupy  the  city — it  was  because, 
incredible  though  it  may  sound,  he  cherished 
an  even  bolder  ambition  yet !  This  was 
nothing  less  than  to  press  right  on  through 
Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  and  join  hands  with 
Lee,  the  Confederate  Generalissimo.  But  what 
would  have  been  an  absolutely  unique  feat  of 
arms  was  arrested  by  the  heavy  news  that 
reached  Morgan   at  Piketon.     The  great  for- 


192  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

tress  of  Vicksburg  had  fallen,  the  great  battle 
of  Gettysburg  had  been  fought  and  lost,  and 
Lee  was  in  full  retreat.  Obviously  the  only 
thing  to  do  now  was  if  possible  to  get  back 
across  the  Ohio  with  the  wreck  of  his  jaded 
force.    But  how  ? 

Thousands  of  eager  and  vengeful  enemies 
barred  the  way — barred  every  way,  in  fact. 
The  nearest  spot  at  which  the  Confederates 
could  recross  the  river  was  Buffington  Island, 
and  in  their  worn-out  condition  they  did  not 
make  this  point  until  after  dark  of  July  18th. 
In  an  unknown  region  and  without  a  guide  it 
was  imperative  to  wait  for  dawn  of  day,  and 
this  delay  enabled  the  swarming  Federal 
militia  to  arrive  at  the  ford  in  overwhelming 
numbers.  Hemmed  in  by  fresh  and  resolute 
antagonists,  Morgan's  men  had  come  to  the 
last  gate.  Federal  gunboats  joined  in  and 
shelled  them  cruelly,  their  four  guns  were 
captured,  and  it  is  recorded  that  the  poor 
fellows  themselves  were  so  exhausted  that 
they  could  no  longer  control  their  horses, 
which  carried  them  whither  they  pleased. 
Finally,  ammunition  gave  out.  Their  un- 
daunted leader  managed  to  get  clear  at  last 
with  about  a  thousand  of  his  half-dead  com- 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     193 

mand,  leaving  700  prisoners  and  125  killed  at 
the  river.  Some  300  of  the  survivors  managed 
to  cross  the  stream  with  Morgan  at  a  point 
twenty  miles  east  of  Buffington,  but  scores  of 
others  were  drowned  because  they  had  not 
sufficient  strength  to  sit  their  horses  in  the 
turbid  river.  Yet  for  nearly  a  week  after  this 
did  Morgan  hold  out,  maintaining  a  race  of 
another  twenty  miles  with  some  Michigan 
troops  under  Colonel  Way.  He  even  had  the 
sublime  audacity  to  propose  a  capitulation  by 
Way,  who  spiritedly  answered  that  if  the 
raiders  did  not  throw  down  their  arms  without 
more  ado  he  would  fire  on  them.  As  only  364 
officers  and  men  remained  with  him,  and  none 
of  these  could  drag  one  foot  after  the  other, 
John  Morgan  gave  up  his  sword. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  animosity  towards 
him  in  the  North,  and  the  raiders  were  treated 
like  felons  rather  than  prisoners  of  war. 
Small  wonder  perhaps,  for  in  the  course  of 
what  was  probably  the  greatest  foray  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  they  had  burned  every- 
thing that  came  in  their  way.  In  twenty-four 
days  they  had  ridden  a  thousand  miles,  taken 
many  prisoners,  and  inflicted  ten  million 
dollars'  worth  of  damage  to  property.     It  was 

N 


194  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

all  according  to  the  rules  of  irregular  warfare, 
but  their  enemies  would  not  allow  that  this 
was  so,  and  they  threatened  to  take  Morgan's 
life. 

This  wonderful  adventurer  and  fearless 
cavalryman,  however,  proved  one  too  many 
for  them.  He  broke  out  of  prison  and  got 
clear  away  into  the  Confederate  lines,  where 
he  was  hailed  as  one  risen  from  the  dead. 

Appropriately  enough,  he  died  as  he  had 
lived,  in  the  saddle  and  fronting  the  foe. 
Rather  more  than  a  twelvemonth  from  the 
dramatic  end  of  his  last  great  raiding  enter- 
prise— to  be  exact,  on  September  4th,  1864 — 
he  was  shot  dead  while  leading  on  his  men  to 
the  attack  of  the  Federal  army  at  Knoxville. 
One  may  sum  up  with  a  brief  quotation  from 
the  late  Colonel  Henderson's  biography  of 
Stonewall  Jackson  :  "  The  operations  are 
brillant  examples  of  the  great  strategical  value 
of  a  cavalry  which  is  perfectly  independent 
of  the  foot-soldier,  and  which  at  the  same 
time  is  in  the  highest  degree  mobile.  Those 
who  have  never  had  to  deal  with  the  commu- 
nications of  an  army  are  unable  to  realise  the 
effect  that  may  be,  and  has  been,  produced  by 
such    a    force :     but    no    one    with    the    least 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     195 

practical  experience  of  the  responsibilities 
which  devolve  upon  a  commander-in-chief 
will  venture  to  abate  one  jot  from  the  enormous 
strategical  value  assigned  to  it  by  American 
soldiers.  The  horseman  of  the  American  War 
is  the  model  of  the  efficient  cavalryman." 

N.    B.    FORREST 

If  Generals  Lee  and  Stuart  were  in  some 
sense  the  Bayards  of  the  titanic  struggle, 
Nathan  Bedford  Forrest  was  assuredly  its 
Rupert.  In  no  way  bred  to  the  grim  business 
of  war,  this  intrepid  Southerner  raised  and 
equipped  a  troop  of  cavalry  almost  as  soon  as 
the  shrill  clarion  of  Secession  sounded  in  the 
land.  Throughout  this  bitter  struggle  the 
volunteer  fought  side  by  side  with  the  pro- 
fessional soldier — and  in  appraising  Forrest's 
military  merits  one  is  tempted  to  apply  to  him 
a  certain  famous  dictum  on  Garfield,  viz.  that 
any  success  he  won  in  war  was  essentially  due 
to  the  fact  that  he  was  "  not  educated  at  West 
Point." 

This  interesting  question  of  the  relative 
merits  of  the  professional  and  the  untrained 
soldier  received   many   a   striking  illustration 


196  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

during  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
South  African  RepubHcs.  From  Lord  Roberts 
downwards,  not  one  of  the  British  commanders 
who  won  victories  over  the  Boer  armies  had 
passed  through  the  Staff  College  in  the  ordinary 
course  ;  while  obviously  a  similar  remark  is 
true  of  all  the  very  capable  Boer  leaders.  And 
it  is  especially  true  of  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest. 
Lord  Wolseley,  in  his  able  study  of  the  Ameri- 
can War,  pays  the  highest  compliment  to 
Forrest's  talents ;  while  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  Confederate  leaders, 
General  J.  E.  Johnston,  went  the  length  of 
saying  that  if  Forrest  had  received  the  pro- 
fessional training  referred  to,  he  would  have 
been  "  the  great  central  figure  of  the  war." 

It  became  evident  at  the  outset  that  For- 
rest's peculiar  genius  lay  in  the  direction  of 
quick  initiative,  resource,  and  daring  in  the 
conduct  of  swift  cavalry  operations.  That  his 
misfortune  should  have  been  to  "  assist  "  at 
one  of  the  earliest  disasters  to  the  Confederate 
arms,  was  no  fault  of  his  own.  When  Grant 
invested  Fort  Donelson  early  in  1862,  Forrest 
was  in  command  of  the  cavalry  of  the  garrison 
— men  who  had  already  served  long  enough 
under  him  to  be  captured  by  that  wonderful 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST      197 

personality  which  was  half  the  secret  of  his 
talent  for  leadership.  When  a  council  of  war 
sat  inside  the  fortress  to  discuss  the  terms  of  a 
capitulation,  Forrest  jumped  up  and  vehe- 
mently exclaimed,  "  I  will  never  surrender 
myself  or  my  command  !  "  He  was  as  good 
as  his  word.  No  single  trooper  of  Forrest's 
command  participated  in  the  capitulation  of 
Donelson.  He  called  the  whole  cavalry  brigade 
to  swim  the  freezing  river  that  flowed  under 
the  walls  of  the  fort,  in  driving  snow  and  sleet, 
and  under  cover  of  night.  With  him  escaped 
to  Nashville  about  1340  men  and  their  horses. 
Forrest's  biographer  has  left  a  vivid  picture  of 
his  appearance  on  that  memorable  occasion  : 
"  Soldier  by  nature,  from  earliest  boyhood  at 
home  on  horseback,  with  firm,  erect,  and  easy 
seat  he  rode  at  the  head  of  the  column,  an 
ideal  of  the  beau  sabreur.  From  beneath  the 
wide  and  slightly  upturned  brim  of  the  soft 
felt  hat,  which  bore  no  tawdry  plumes,  the 
large,  deep-set  blue  eyes  were  peering  with 
more  than  usual  alertness.  The  look  of  kindli- 
ness which  came  in  moments  of  repose  or 
gentler  mood  was  gone,  and  something  hard 
and  almost  savage  replaced  it.  The  broad, 
high  forehead,  the  shaggy  brows,  prominent 


198  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

cheek-bones,  and  bold  assertive  nose  told  not 
only  the  story  of  his  Gaelic  origin,  but  the  bull- 
dog tenacity  of  the  man.  About  the  ears  and 
neck  heavy  half- curling  tufts  of  deep-black 
hair  hung  so  stiff  and  stubborn  that  they  were 
scarcely  swayed  by  the  strong  cold  wind 
which  swept  the  snowflakes  in  miniature 
clouds  from  the  tree-tops  and  sent  them 
scurrying  to  the  ground.  The  dark  moustache 
and  heavy  short  beard  were  grey  with 
frozen  moisture  of  the  expired  air.  The 
massive,  firm-set  jaw  told  of  the  strength  of 
will  which  mastered  all ;  the  compressed  lips 
and  deep  flush  of  the  face  bespoke  the  bloody 
business  of  the  hour.  Six  feet  two  inches 
in  stature,  broad-shouldered,  and  of  athletic 
frame,  well  might  one  say  : 

"  '  A  combination  and  a  form  indeed, 

Where  every  god  did  seem  to  set  his  seal 
To  give  the  world  assurance  of  a  man.' " 

Certain  it  is  that  if  a  Forrest  had  been  in 
command  of  Fort  Donelson  there  could  have 
been  no  surrender. 

He  next  played  an  important  part  in  the 
great  battle  of  Shiloh — that  contest  of  giants 
which  opened  so  brilliantly  for  the  Southern 
arms,  to  close  so  disastrously.     But  his  first 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     199 

fine  achievement  as  an  independent  com- 
mander in  the  field  now  clamis  our  attention — 
I  allude  to  his  capture  of  the  town  of  Mur- 
freesboro'  and  its  garrison,  an  event  which 
happened  on  his  forty-first  birthday,  July 
13th,  1862.  I  can  recall  few  incidents  of 
modern  warfare  more  memorable  than  this. 
It  was  brought  about  entirely  by  Forrest's 
matchless  playing  of  the  game  known  among 
our  Transatlantic  cousins  under  the  euphonious 
title  of  "  bluff."  In  other  words,  Forrest,  at 
the  head  of  2500  cavalry  and  with  no  artillery 
whatever,  encompassed  the  capture  of  Mur- 
freesboro'  with  its  entire  garrison  of  a  brigade 
of  infantry  and  cavalry  commanded  by  General 
Crittenden.  In  connection  with  this  masterly 
coup  de  guerre  there  is  a  grim  but  highly 
characteristic  story  of  Forrest.  A  few  Con- 
federate prisoners  who  were  confined  in  the 
gaol  at  Murfreesboro'  had  been  treated  pretty 
badly  by  their  Federal  captors — in  fact,  when 
the  Southern  forces  came  in  sight,  there  had 
been  a  most  inhuman  attempt  to  fire  the 
prison  and  burn  them  out.  When  the  Federals 
became  in  their  turn  the  prisoners  of  Forrest, 
the  latter  asked  to  have  pointed  out  to  him  the 
officer  who  had  ordered  the  firing  of  the  gaol. 


200  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

This  was  done.  Later,  when  the  roll  of  the 
prisoners  was  called,  there  was  no  response 
when  it  came  to  the  name  of  this  man. 
"  Pass  on,"  said  Forrest  quietly,  "  it's  all 
right." 

Lord  Wolseley  has  put  on  record  his  ad- 
miration of  the  stroke  of  daring  that  won 
Murfreesboro'  for  the  Confederacy.  "  His 
operations  that  day,"  says  the  Field-Marshal, 
"  showed  a  rare  mixture  of  military  skill  and 
'  bluff,'  and  led  to  surrender  of  the  various 
camps  attacked.  It  was  a  brilliant  success, 
and  as  it  was  Forrest's  first  great  foray  it  at 
once  established  his  reputation  as  a  daring 
cavalry  leader,  to  be  dreaded  by  all  Federal 
commanders  of  posts  and  stations  within  his 
sphere  of  action."  The  Confederate  General's 
written  demand  to  the  Commandant  of  Mur- 
freesboro' for  its  surrender  is  such  a  "  gem," 
as  coming  from  one  whose  force  was  inferior 
in  strength,  that  it  is  quoted  hereunder  : 

"  Colonel, — I  must  demand  an  uncondi- 
tional surrender  of  your  force  as  prisoners  of 
war,  or  I  will  have  every  man  put  to  the  sword. 
You  are  aware  of  the  overpowering  force  I 
have  at  my  command,  and  this  demand  is 
made  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood. — I  am, 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     201 

Colonel,  very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 
N.  B.  Forrest,  Brigadier-General,  C.S.A." 

In  this  brilliant  operation  Forrest  captured 
stores  to  the  amount  of  500,000  dollars,  and 
his  total  loss  was  only  eighteen  killed  and 
thirty  wounded.  On  getting  news  of  the 
victory,  the  Federal  General  Buell  telegraphed 
to  one  of  his  subordinates  to  "  destroy  For- 
rest." But  the  Confederate  was  far  too  wily 
to  be  caught. 

In  the  light  of  the  many  thousands  of  horses 
lost  in  our  war  with  the  Boer  Republics,  it  is 
an  instructive  fact  that  throughout  his  ardu- 
ous operations  Forrest's  horseflesh  held  out 
superbly.  Ano'.iier  fact  of  keen  interest  in 
his  career  as  a  fighter  is  the  touch  of  roman- 
ticism almost  ever-present  in  his  undertakings. 
On  at  least  one  occasion  he  so  far  forgot  the 
strictly  professional  jargon  in  which  the  dis- 
patches of  a  commanding  General  should  be 
couched,  as  to  refer  to  a  Kentucky  belle  whose 
patriotism  got  the  better  of  her  discretion,  in 
such  terms  as  this  :  "  Her  untied  tresses, 
floating  in  the  breeze,  infused  nerve  into  my 
arm  and  knightly  chivalry  into  my  heart." 
This  romantic  strain  in  the  great  Guerilla's 
temperament  is  again  to  the  fore  in  his  extra- 


202  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

ordinary  achievement  in  capturing  Colonel 
Streight  and  the  whole  of  the  force  (known  as 
"  Streight's  Raiders  ")  with  which  that  officer 
had  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the  Confeder- 
acy. On  this  occasion  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  Forrest  was  enormously  assisted  by  the 
heroic  action  of  a  young  girl  of  sixteen,  named 
Emma  Samson,  who  fearlessly  rode  at  the 
General's  saddle-bow  in  order  that  she  might 
point  out  to  him  the  ford  by  possession  of 
which  he  might — and  did — effect  the  capture 
of  the  raiders.  "  General  Forrest  and  his 
men,"  wrote  the  brave  young  Alabama  maiden, 
''  endeared  themselves  to  us  for  ever." 

By  this  time  the  mere  name  of  Forrest  was 
a  terror  to  the  enemy.  However  big  the  odds, 
however  insuperable  the  difficulties,  he  was 
always  on  their  lines  of  communication,  cutting 
off  isolated  garrisons  and  separated  detach- 
ments, and  not  infrequently  carrying  the  war 
directly  into  the  hostile  territory.  "  Uaudace, 
et  encore  Vaudace,  et  toujours  Vaudace  "  might 
well  have  been  his  motto. 

Magnificent  work  was  done  by  this  Rupert 
of  the  South  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  where,  in  General  Bragg's  army,  For- 
rest directed  the  cavalry  of  the  left  wing  and 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     203 

General  Wheeler  that  of  the  right.  On  this 
field  of  slaughter,  Forrest's  horse  was  shot 
under  him  and  the  General  thrown  to  the 
ground.  He  had  given  particular  instructions 
as  to  the  treatment  to  be  meted  out  to  indi- 
vidual soldiers  guilty  of  quitting  the  fighting- 
line  without  orders.  Seeing  a  man  in  the  act 
of  running  away  at  a  crisis  of  the  battle, 
Forrest  drew  his  revolver  and  was  about  to 
shoot  him.  "  Oh,  General,  think  !  "  said  a 
staff  officer  at  his  elbow — and  the  soldier's  life 
was  spared.  To  all  intents  and  purposes, 
Chickamauga  was  a  Confederate  victory  which 
General  Bragg  signally  failed  to  follow  up — 
and  Bragg,  who  for  some  reason  or  other  dis- 
liked Forrest,  capped  the  whole  proceeding  by 
turning  over  the  latter's  command  to  General 
Wheeler  at  a  moment's  notice.  It  is  on  record 
that  the  fiery  Forrest,  his  Southern  blood  in  a 
blaze,  straightway  proceeded  to  the  com- 
manding officer's  tent  and  delivered  himself 
to  the  following  remarkable  effect  : 

"  General  Bragg,  I  am  not  here  to  pass 
civilities  or  compliments  with  you,  but  on 
other  business.  You  commenced  your 
cowardly  and  contemptible  persecution  of 
me  soon  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  and  you 


204  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

have  kept  it  up  ever  since.  You  did  it  because 
I  reported  to  Richmond  facts  while  you  re- 
ported d — d  hes.  You  robbed  me  of  my 
command  in  Kentucky,  and  gave  it  to  one  of 
your  favourites — men  that  I  armed  and 
equipped  from  the  enemies  of  our  country. 
In  a  spirit  of  revenge  and  spite,  because  I 
would  not  fawn  upon  you  as  others  did,  you 
drove  me  into  West  Tennessee  in  the  winter 
of  1862,  with  a  second  brigade  I  had  organised, 
with  improper  arms  and  without  sufficient 
ammunition,  though  I  made  repeated  appli- 
cations for  the  same.  You  did  it  to  ruin  me 
and  my  career.  When  in  spite  of  all  this  I 
returned  with  my  command,  well  equipped  by 
captures,  you  began  again  your  work  of  spite 
and  persecution,  and  have  kept  it  up  ;  and 
now  this  second  brigade,  organised  and 
equipped  without  thanks  to  you  or  the  Govern- 
ment— a  brigade  which  has  won  a  reputation 
for  successful  fighting  second  to  none  in  the 
army — taking  advantage  of  your  position  as 
the  commanding  General  in  order  to  humiliate 
me  further,  you  have  taken  these  brave  men 
from  me.  I  have  stood  your  meanness  as  long 
as  I  intend  to.  You  have  played  the  part  of 
a  d — d  scoundrel   and   are  a  coward,   and  if 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     205 

you  were  any  part  of  a  man  I  would  slap  your 
jaws  and  force  you  to  resent  it.  You  may  as 
well  not  issue  any  more  orders  to  me,  for  I 
will  not  obey  them,  and  I  will  hold  you  per- 
sonally responsible  for  any  further  indignities 
you  endeavour  to  inflict  on  me.  You  have 
threatened  to  arrest  me  for  not  obeying  your 
orders  promptly.  I  dare  you  to  do  it,  and  I 
say  to  you  that  if  you  ever  again  try  to  inter- 
fere with  me  or  cross  my  path,  it  will  be  at  the 
peril  of  your  life  !  " 

In  the  sequel.  President  Davis  had  a  per- 
sonal conference  with  Forrest  and  assigned 
him  to  the  command  of  West  Tennessee.  In 
this  new  field  of  operations  his  glory  blazed 
brighter  than  ever.  Through  good  report  and 
evil  he  remained  the  idol  of  his  troopers.  One 
of  his  peculiarities  was  that  in  battle  "  he 
never  seemed  to  touch  his  saddle,  but  stood 
up  in  his  stirrups,  an  attitude  that  gave  him 
the  appearance  of  being  a  foot  taller  than  he 
really  was.  As  he  was  over  six  feet  in  stature 
and  of  large  proportions,  and  of  necessity  rode 
a  large  horse,  it  was  not  difficult  to  recognise 
his  imposing  presence  at  any  ordinary  dis- 
tance." 

We  pass  now  to  the  incident  of  his  career 


206  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

which  has  been  the  most  grossly  misrepre- 
sented— the  circumstances  surrounding  his 
storming  of  Fort  Pillow  in  1864).  A  favourite 
Northern  name  for  the  episode  is  to  this  day 
"  the  Fort  Pillow  massacre."  L^nfortunately 
for  Forrest's  reputation,  the  cry  that  the 
Southerners  would  have  no  mercy  on  negroes 
fighting  for  the  Union  had  already  been  raised 
at  the  North — and,  the  place  being  partially 
garrisoned  by  black  troops,  this  has  afforded 
a  valuable  aid  to  those  historians  of  the  war 
inimical  to  the  Confederate  cause.  What 
really  happened  was  that  the  negro  section  of 
the  garrison,  believing  that  no  quarter  would 
be  given  them,  went  on  firing  at  their  Con- 
federate conquerors  long  after  the  demand  for 
surrender  had  been  made  and  replied  to.  It 
was  a  deplorable  business  altogether. 

It  is  a  received  maxim  that  the  commanding 
General  shall  not  expose  his  life  unnecessarily. 
In  the  case  of  General  Forrest,  such  was  the 
personal  magnetism  he  exercised  that  men 
were  content  to  follow  him  to  death.  Always 
riding  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  it  is  on 
record  that,  from  end  to  end  of  the  Civil  War, 
he  killed  no  fewer  than  thirty-two  of  the  enemy 
with  his  own  hand.     He  affords  a  valuable 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     207 

object-lesson  in  the  conduct  of  a  phase  of  the 
war,  by  the  personal  "  grip  "  he  exerted  over 
his  followers.  "  It  is  going  to  be  as  hot  as 
H — !  "  was  Forrest's  characteristic  forecast  of 
the  engagement  known  as  the  battle  of  Brice's 
Cross  Roads,  in  which,  though  with  far  inferior 
numbers,  he  gained  a  noteworthy  triumph. 
None  other  than  General  W.  T.  Sherman — the 
planner  and  executor  of  the  famous  March  to 
the  Sea — wrote  in  a  dispatch  to  the  War 
Department  at  Washington  :  "  Forrest  is  the 
devil.  There  will  never  be  peace  in  Tennessee 
until  Forrest  is  dead.  .  .  .  We  killed  Bishop 
Polk^  yesterday,"  cheerfully  added  the  satur- 
nine Sherman. 

In  the  closing  months  of  the  struggle,  when 
both  parties  had  become  much  embittered,  a 
rumour  circulated  in  certain  quarters  that 
Forrest  had  determined  on  "  taking  no  prison- 
ers." This  was,  of  course,  a  vile  canard,  but 
that  it  gained  credence  the  following  anecdote 
well  illustrates.  A  Federal  chaplain,  who  on 
one  occasion  was  among  Forrest's  prisoners, 
was  mortally  afraid  lest  he  should  be  ordered 
out  to  be  shot.    Judge  of  his  surprise  when 

'  Major-Geu.  Leonidas  Polk,  who  until  the  wai-  was  Bishoj)  of 
Louisiaua. 


208  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

at  the  supper-table  his  captor  reverently  un- 
covered, and  addressing  the  prisoner  said, 
"  Parson,  will  you  ask  a  blessing  ?  "  And  at 
the  close  of  the  meal  General  Forrest  remarked, 
"  Well,  Parson,  I  should  have  liked  to  keep  you 
here,  but  I  reckon  you'll  be  of  more  use  to  the 
sinners  on  the  other  side." 

In  spite  of  General  Sherman's  cheerful  fore- 
cast, the  great  guerilla  was  not  destined  to  die 
in  battle.  He  was  one  of  the  very  last  to 
surrender  himself  to  the  Northern  conquerors, 
and  the  records  show  that  as  late  as  April  11th, 
1865,  the  remains  of  his  command  captured 
a  hostile  outpost.  On  May  9th  their  General 
took  leave  of  the  gallant  fellows  who  had 
fought  so  long  under  the  Stars  and  Bars. 
"  The  old  bullet-torn  flag,  whose  blue  cross 
had  been  triumphantly  borne  aloft  for  years 
at  the  cost  of  so  much  blood  and  valour,  they 
would  never  part  with.  On  the  eve  of  sur- 
render, as  the  shadows  of  night  fell,  the  men 
reverently  gathered  around  the  staff  in  front 
of  regimental  head-quarters  and,  cutting  the 
silk  into  fragments,  each  soldier  carried  away 
with  him  a  bit  of  the  coveted  treasure.  The 
flag  had  been  the  gift  of  a  young  lady  of  Aber- 
deen, Mississippi,  made  from  her  bridal  dress. 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     209 

and  had  never  for  an  instant  been  abandoned 
by  the  men  of  the  7th  Tennessee  cavahy 
after  it  was  committed  to  their  guardian- 
ship." 

There  was  a  rumour  that  Forrest  was  to  be 
arrested  instead  of  being  treated  as  an  ordinary 
prisoner  of  war — presumably  on  account  of 
Federal  reports  of  the  affair  at  Fort  Pillow. 
However,  this  inglorious  consummation  was 
fated  not  to  take  place,  and  the  great  soldier 
lived  in  comparative  repose — except  for  cer- 
tain mistakes  in  railroad  speculation,  whereby 
he  lost  a  great  deal  of  money — until  his  death 
on  October  29th,  1877. 

In  the  opinion  of  President  Davis,  General 
Sherman,  and  General  J.  E.  Johnston,  Forrest 
was  not  only  the  greatest  cavalry  leader,  but 
the  greatest  soldier  of  the  war.  General  Maury 
wrote  of  him  that  he  was  "  born  a  soldier  as 
men  are  born  poets."  Said  Sherman  :  "  To 
my  mind  he  was  the  most  remarkable  in  many 
ways.  In  the  first  place  he  was  uneducated, 
while  Jackson  and  Sheridan  and  other  brilliant 
leaders  were  soldiers  by  profession.  He  had 
never  read  a  military  book  in  his  life,  knew 
nothing  about  tactics,  could  not  even  drill  a 
company."     Wrote  the  knightly  Beauregard  : 


210  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

"  Forrest's  capacity  for  war  seemed  only 
limited  by  the  opportunities  for  its  display." 

But  his  best  epitaph  has  been  penned  by 
our  own  Lord  Wolseley.  It  is  expressed  in 
these  noble  and  beautiful  terms  ;  "  Forrest 
had  fought  like  a  knight- errant  for  the  cause 
he  believed  to  be  that  of  justice  and  right.  No 
man  who  drew  the  sword  for  his  country  in 
that  fratricidal  struggle  deserves  better  of  her  ; 
and  as  long  as  the  chivalrous  deeds  of  her  sons 
find  poets  to  describe  them  and  fair  women  to 
sing  of  them,  the  name  of  this  gallant  General 
will  be  remembered  with  affection  and  sincere 
admiration.  A  man  with  such  a  record  needs 
no  ancestry." 

The  battle-history  of  this  celebrated  partisan 
challenges  comparison  with  that  of  any  leader 
of  men  in  any  age.  An  old  man  at  fifty-six, 
he  only  survived  the  death  of  the  cause  that 
he  had  loved  and  served  so  well  by  about  a 
dozen  years. 

A  paragraph  must  be  devoted  to  General 
Turner  Ashby,  who  fell  in  battle  near  Harrison- 
burg on  June  6th,  1862.  The  opening  of  the 
war  found  Ashby  a  prosperous  resident  of 
Faquier  County,  Virginia,  but  he  at  once 
raised  and  equipped  a  corps  of  irregular  horse. 


MOSBY— MORGAN— FORREST     211 

They  received  the  name  of  the  "  Mountain 
Rangers,"  and  under  his  direction  did  splendid 
service  during  several  months  of  the  struggle. 
Turner  Ashby  was  a  man  of  exceptional  capa- 
bilities and  qualities,  not  the  least  of  these 
being  a  "  delicacy  of  sentiment  and  feeling 
equal  to  a  woman's."  It  is  significant  that  so 
fine  a  judge  of  men  as  Stonewall  Jackson  wrote 
of  him  that  "  his  daring  was  proverbial,  his 
powers  of  endurance  almost  incredible,  his 
tone  of  character  heroic,  and  his  sagacity 
almost  intuitive  in  divining  the  purposes  of  the 
enemy."  If  he  had  survived,  he  must  have 
attained  to  a  very  great  position  in  the  Con- 
federate service. 


CHAPTER  XI 

MEXICO  :     PORFIRIO    DIAZ 

The  five  years'  struggle  for  the  liberation  of 
Mexico,  waged  during  the  middle  sixties,  was 
guerilla  warfare  with  a  difference.  It  repre- 
sented the  life  and  death  battle  of  a  great 
people  rightly  struggling  to  be  free,  as  against 
the  domination  of  an  alien  Power  that  had, 
with  armed  force  and  at  the  sword's  point, 
sought  to  foist  upon  the  Mexican  nation  a 
ruler  of  foreign  blood  and  autocratic  principles 
in  the  person  of  the  hapless  Maximilian  of 
Hapsburg.  Mexico  was  primarily  saved  from 
this  fate  by  two  men,  each  of  them  having 
Indian  blood  in  his  veins.  Their  names  were 
Benito  Juarez  and  Porfirio  Diaz.  One  of  them 
died  President  of  the  Mexican  Republic.  The 
other,  Diaz,  succeeded  his  colleague  and  fellow- 
Revolutionary  in  that  high  office,  was  re- 
elected, and  not  until  1911,  when  he  had 
attained  the  ripe  age  of  eighty,  was  he  hurled 
from  the  Presidential  chair, 

212 


MEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        213 

In  Mexico's  struggle  for  freedom  Juarez 
was  the  statesman  and  Diaz  rather  essentially 
the  soldier,  or,  more  correctly,  a  judicious 
admixture  of  both.  As  Juarez's  biographer 
has  finely  said,  "  before  Lepanto,  Solyman 
was  the  terror  of  Christendom  ;  before  Sadowa, 
Napoleon  III  was  the  arbiter  of  Europe  ;  and 
from  Solferino  to  Sadowa  one  man  alone  was 
found  to  oppose  the  armies  of  the  Colossus  at 
the  Tuileries — the  bright-eyed  lawyer  of 
Oaxaca,  Benito  Juarez."  Writing  half  a 
century  after  the  event,  it  is  not  easy  to 
apprehend  the  condition  of  anarchy  obtaining 
in  Mexico  at  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Since  the  war  with  the  United 
States  in  1846-8,  the  country  had  been  ter- 
ribly in  debt,  particularly  to  the  financiers  of 
England,  France,  and  Spain.  Juarez  had  been 
accepted  as  President  and  was  already  by  way 
of  showing,  under  the  most  adverse  conditions, 
that  he  had  the  makings  of  a  wise  and  benefi- 
cent ruler ;  but  the  army  was  irregularly 
paid,  and  consequently  very  insubordinate, 
while  banditti  and  cattle-thieves  infested  the 
unhappy  country.  In  June,  1861,  a  band  of 
these  raiders  commanded  by  the  notorious 
Marquez    "  held    up  "    the    Real    del    Monte 


214  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Mines,  took  all  the  money  and  horses  they 
could  find,  and  only  stopped  short  of  killing 
the  miners  themselves,  of  whom  160  were 
British  subjects.  This  and  similar  outrages 
naturally  led  to  the  filing  of  protests  by  Sir 
Charles  Wyke,  the  British  Minister,  and  the 
representatives  of  other  European  Powers. 
At  length  a  Convention  was  signed  in  London 
(October  31st,  1861)  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Spain,  which  recited  that 
those  Powers,  "  feeling  compelled  by  the  arbit- 
rary and  vexatious  conduct  of  the  authorities 
of  Mexico  to  demand  more  efficacious  protection 
for  the  persons  and  properties  of  their  sub- 
jects," had  agreed  to  "  dispatch  military  and 
naval  forces  sufficient  to  seize  and  occupy  the 
several  fortresses  and  military  positions  on 
the  Mexican  coast." 

But  in  the  sending  to  Vera  Cruz  of  the  mixed 
expedition  thus  arranged  for,  England  took 
little  part  as  regards  her  own  display  of  armed 
force.  The  Emperor  Louis  Napoleon  was  the 
great  stage-manager,  and  he  found  a  puppet 
ready  to  his  hand  in  the  Archduke  Ferdinand 
Maximilian,  younger  brother  to  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  of  Austria.  After  a  delay  of 
some  months,  Maximilian  signified  his  willing- 


MEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        215 

ness  to  accept  the  throne  of  Mexico.  He  was 
an  Admiral  in  the  Austrian  navy  and  a  fine 
sailor,  Tegethoff,  the  winner  of  the  Imperial 
victory  of  Lissa  in  1866,  being  his  favourite 
pupil. ^  But  it  was  a  bad  day  for  all  concerned 
when  Maximilian  was  induced  to  go  out  to 
Mexico. 

He  did  not  arrive  there  until  186-1,  and  mean- 
time events  in  the  theatre  of  war  had  passed 
the  point  of  dissensions  between  the  French 
and  Spanish  parties  to  the  occupation,  Great 
Britain's  share,  as  has  been  implied  already, 
not  counting  to  any  extent.  The  Franco- 
Spanish  allies  had  a  considerable  following  in 
the  country,  but  the  Republican  government 
were  able  to  get  together  a  little  army  10,000 
strong.  This  was  placed  under  the  orders  of 
General  Jose  Lopez  Uraga,  who  later,  how- 
ever, deserted  to  Maximilian.  The  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  French  forces  was 
General  Comte  de  Lorencez,  while  M.  dc 
Saligny  and  Admiral  Jurien  de  la  Graviere 
were  the  French  plenipotentiaries  and  General 
Prim  acted  for  the  Spanish.  It  is  now  that 
Diaz  first  comes  on  the  scene.    The  defeat  of 

'  In  compliment  to  his  old  chief  and  friend,  Admiral  Tegethoff'e 
flagship  at  Lissa  was  named  the  Er::hcr;:og  Ferdinand  Max. 


216  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

the  French  at  Puebla  by  the  RepubUcan  force 
under  this  young  officer — as  he  then  was — on 
May  5th,  1862,  came  as  a  shock  to  the  civiHsed 
world  and  particularly  to  the  French  them- 
selves, who  were  at  once  heavily  reinforced 
from  Europe.  Diaz,  who  was  at  the  time 
under  the  orders  of  General  Zaragoza,  long 
after  (in  his  autobiography)  stirringly  de- 
scribed the  ruse — that  favoured  device  of  the 
partisan — whereby  he  gained  this  brilliant 
success.  "  When  the  enemy  were  very  close 
and  their  fire  doing  much  damage,  not  only  to 
the  chain  of  riflemen,  but  also  to  the  columns 
of  infantry,  I  ordered  a  double-quick  retreat 
on  the  flanks  of  the  riflemen,  and  also  ordered 
the  Guerrero  battalion  to  advance  in  columns, 
and  moved  my  whole  force  of  men  and  my  two 
howitzers  behind  them.  When  the  enemy 
felt  my  fire,  they  fled  a  few  minutes  before 
those  attacking  the  hill  were  repulsed.  I 
ordered  Colonel  Felix  Diaz  [his  brother]  to 
charge,  which  he  did,  causing  great  loss  to  the 
enemy.  As  the  route  of  the  enemy  fleeing 
from  my  men  was  along  the  foot  of  a  hill,  they 
soon  joined  those  fleeing  from  the  hill,  causing 
a  crush  and  confusion  of  troops,  which  seri- 
ously  embarrassed   my   manoeuvres.      Never- 


MEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        217 

theless,  I  continued  to  advance  as  they  re- 
treated, bringing  up  all  the  men  at  my  com- 
mand, using  my  cannon  when  possible,  and 
gaining  ground." 

But  the  French  shortly  afterwards  entered 
Puebla,  thanks  to  the  immense  reinforcements, 
amounting  to  30,000  fresh  troops  under  General 
Forey,  sent  out  to  Mexico.  This  compelled 
the  Government  of  President  Juarez  to  quit 
the  capital  and  remove  to  San  Luis  Potosi, 
whereupon  General  Forey  entered  Mexico  City 
(June  7th,  1863),  and  the  Archduke  Maximihan 
was  called  on  to  accept  the  dignity  and  title 
of  "  Emperor  of  Mexico."  About  the  same 
time  Porfirio  Diaz  was  offered  and  refused  the 
supreme  command  of  the  army  operating 
against  the  French — a  refusal  based  upon 
"  my  youth,  and  the  pretext  which  would  thus 
be  given  to  some  of  the  dissatisfied  officers  for 
deserting  to  the  French  army."  ^  His  objec- 
tions were  overruled,  but  Maximilian's  party 
was  now  temporarily  in  the  ascendant  and 
was  under  the  command  of  General  Bazaine, 
destined  three  short  vears  later  to  the  historic 
capitulation  of  Metz.  With  him  Diaz  felt 
compelled  to  open  negotiations  (there  was  no 

1  Diaz's  narrative. 


218  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

money  whatsoever  in  the  National  exchequer, 
and  some  of  the  unpaid  and  starving  troops 
not  unnaturally  grew  mutinous  ^ )  for  the 
surrender  of  Oaxaca,  after  having  held  that 
shot-torn  city  under  impossible  conditions 
from  December,  1864,  to  February,  1865.  "  I 
did  not  have  one  thousand  men  under  my 
control,  and  it  did  not  seem  Avise  to  have  more 
blood  shed  in  a  final  assault ;  the  situation 
was  desperate  and  all  resistance  useless." 
Bazaine  apparently  supposed  that  Diaz  had 
taken  an  oath  not  to  bear  arms  against  Maxi- 
milian (as  many  Mexican  officers  did),  but  the 
General  quickly  undeceived  him  as  to  this. 
Nevertheless,  Diaz  and  his  principal  officers 
were  held  in  close  captivity  at  the  Santa 
Catarina  Convent  in  Puebla,  whence  our  hero 
planned  an  escape  well  worthy  of  ^lorgan  the 
Confederate.  At  the  moment  when  this  plan 
matured  he  was  suddenly  transferred  to  the 
"  Company  Convent,"  and  here  the  escape 
took  place.  Diaz  gives  a  vivid  description  of 
what  happened.  "  As  soon  as  '  taps  '  had 
sounded  and  all  was  silent,  I  went  into  an 
uncovered  passage  connecting  the  main  build- 

1  "  I  had  ten  shot  in  the  Salazar  Valley  "  is  Diaz's  grim  comment, 
"iu  the  presence  of  the  troops  draAvn  up  in  line." 


MEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        219 

ing  with  the  outbuilding.  As  this  was  more  or 
less  used  at  all  times,  little  attention  was  paid 
to  my  movements.  I  carried  three  ropes  which 
I  had  wound  into  a  ball  and  wrapped  in  a 
piece  of  grey  burlap.  I  was  working  under 
great  disadvantages,  as  the  night  was  inky- 
black,  the  rain  pouring  in  torrents,  and  the 
vivid  flashes  of  lightning  exposed  me  to 
detection  every  few  minutes  ;  but  after  care- 
fully reconnoitring  and  being  satisfied  no 
one  was  in  the  vicinitv,  I  threw  the  bundle  of 
ropes  on  to  the  adjoining  roof,  threw  another 
rope  over  a  gargoyle,  and  hand  over  hand  I 
climbed  up.  My  progress  was  necessarily 
slow.  The  wet  roof  was  slippery.  ...  I  came 
near  being  killed  at  this  point.  A  blinding 
flash  of  lightning  so  bewildered  me  that  I 
slipped,  and  was  nearly  dashed  to  the  stone 
pavement  below.  On  the  corner  of  the  convent 
roof  was  a  stone  statue  of  St.  Vincent  Ferrer, 
to  which  I  proposed  to  fasten  my  ropes.  The 
Saint  swaved  considerablv,  but  the  statue 
probably  had  a  bar  of  iron  running  through  it, 
as  it  did  not  fall.  It  appeared  to  me  wiser  not 
to  attempt  the  descent  at  this  corner,  as  it  was 
much  exposed  and  I  would  probably  be  seen 
by  some  passer-by.     I  therefore  concluded  to 


220  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

go  down  into  a  lot  belonging  to  the  convent, 
which  was  enclosed  by  a  high  wall.  When  I 
made  this  decision  I  was  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  there  were  a  lot  of  hogs  in  a  pen  directly 
under  me.  The  rope  swayed  considerably,  and 
in  one  of  my  bumps  against  the  convent  walls 
my  dagger,  which  was  the  only  weapon  I 
carried,  was  loosened  from  my  belt  and  fell 
among  the  hogs,  evidently  wounding  one  of 
them,  as  they  made  a  noise  which  increased  as 
I  came  down  among  them.  I  had  to  wait  a 
little  to  let  them  quiet  down,  and  was  alarmed 
lest  their  owner  should  come  out.  After  the 
noise  subsided  somewhat  I  climbed  the  fence 
facing  the  street,  but  was  obliged  to  beat  a 
hasty  retreat,  as  I  saw  the  night  watchman 
coming  along  the  street,  examining  the  houses 
to  see  if  the  doors  were  locked.  When  the 
policeman  had  disappeared  I  descended  to  the 
street,  detaching  a  stone  from  the  top  of  the 
wall,  which  made  a  great  clatter  as  it  fell." 

He  immediately  resumed  his  military  com- 
mand, and  in  the  autumn  of  1866 — the  whole 
situation  having  been  modified  by  Austria's 
crushing  defeat  in  Europe,  the  victory  of  the 
North  over  the  South  in  the  American  Civil 
War,  and  consequent  pressure  put  upon  Napo- 


MEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        221 

leon  III  to  withdraw  the  French  army  from 
Mexico — he  had  the  satisfaction  of  compelhng 
the  surrender  of  Oaxaca,  the  very  city  that 
had  been  the  scene  of  his  discomfiture  by  the 
legions  of  Bazaine.  As  a  prehminary  to  this 
couj)  de  guerre,  Diaz  cut  off  and  killed  or  cap- 
tured a  relief  column  of  thirteen  hundred 
French  and  Austrian  troops  designed  for 
Oaxaca.  The  fall  of  the  place  was  the  prelude 
to  the  reduction  of  Puebla  and  Mexico  City  in 
the  succeeding  year,  and  the  capture  and 
somewhat  barbarous  execution  of  the  ill-fated 
Maximilian. 

Diaz  records  a  barefaced  attempt  made  to 
induce  him  to  desert  to  Maximilian's  camp. 
The  overture  came  from  the  French  head- 
quarters through  General  Uraga,  a  renegade 
who,  as  we  have  already  indicated,  had 
espoused  the  Imperial  cause  after  being 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Nationalist  forces. 
Uraga's  communication,  says  Diaz,  "  asked 
me  to  join  the  Imperial  army,  promising  to 
leave  me  in  command  of  the  States  forming 
the  eastern  division,  and  that  no  foreign  troops 
would  be  sent  there  unless  I  asked  for  them. 
This  incident  seemed  to  offer  an  opportunity, 
by  advising  my  men  of  Uraga's  offer,  to  revive 


222  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

their  drooping  spirits,  and  with  this  object  I 
called  a  meeting  of  the  generals  and  colonels 
of  the  line.  I  acquainted  them  with  the 
contents  of  the  letter,  and  formed  my  answer 
from  their  opinions  of  it.  This  I  sent  on 
November  27th  by  Colonel  Alvarez,  telling 
General  Uraga  that  his  second  envoy,  whatever 
his  mission  might  be,  would  be  arrested  and 
shot  as  a  spy." 

Fusion  of  interests  had  failed  dismally,  and 
Louis  Napoleon  characteristically  deserted 
Maximilian  after  having  placed  him  on  the 
tottering  throne  of  Mexico  by  the  prop  of 
French  bayonets — for  by  the  middle  of  March, 
1867,  the  last  French  soldier  had  quitted 
Mexican  soil.  A  feature  of  the  warfare  was 
the  employment  of  "  contre- guerillas  "  to  op- 
pose the  methods  of  General  Diaz,  and  these 
bands  were  partly  composed  of  the  African 
soldiers  in  the  French  service.  Now  was  the 
time  for  Maximilian  himself  to  have  returned 
home,  but  he  fatally  lingered  and  vacillated, 
with  an  ever  dwindling  following,  and  was 
taken  and  shot  on  June  19th,  1867.  Around 
this  unnecessary  act  of  savagery  a  fierce  con- 
troversy has  raged  for  almost  half  a  century  ; 
and  as  the  present  is  an  attempt  at  a  military 


xMEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        223 

rather  than  a  poHtical  study,  it  is  needless  to 
go  into  the  matter  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
Porfirio  Diaz  had  no  direct  hand  in  the  tragedy. 
When  the  French  re-embarked  for  Europe,  he 
tells  us,  the  Emperor  Maximilian  had  only 
50,000  troops  left  for  all  purposes.  These  were 
Austrians  and  Belgians,  and  many  of  them  of 
not  particularly  good  calibre. 

At  one  time  it  had  really  appeared  as  if  poor 
Maximilian's  Empire  of  Mexico  was  likely  to 
have  a  future  as  a  real  factor  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world.  But  it  contained  too  many  con- 
flicting elements,  and  in  an  unfortunate 
moment  Maximilian  lost  the  Papal  support  by 
refusing  to  agree  to  the  terms  for  a  settlement 
of  the  Church  question  as  laid  down  by  the 
Nuncio,  Monsignor  Meglia,  who  thereupon 
quitted  Mexico.  Another  horrible  mistake  was 
the  issue  of  Maximilian's  rescript  enjoining 
the  instant  execution  of  all  "  Juarists  " — as 
the  supporters  of  Juarez,  the  Republican 
President,  were  styled — found  with  arms  in 
their  hands.  From  the  United  States  great 
stores  of  arms  reached  the  Independent  party, 
30,000  rifles  being  dispatched  from  one  port 
alone  ;  whilst  President  Johnson,  supported 
by  the  whole  force  of  public  opinion  in  the 


224  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

States,  was  constantly  demanding  from  the 
French  Emperor  the  withdrawal  of  the  army 
of  occupation.  It  is  matter  of  history  that  the 
immediate  sequel  to  this  withdrawal  was  the 
insanity  that  suddenly  afflicted  Maximilian's 
unhappy  wife  while  she  was  in  the  act  of 
pleading  for  the  intercession  of  the  Pope.  In 
a  word,  it  was  as  if  a  curse  rested  upon  the 
Mexican  adventure  from  its  very  inception. 

Mr.  Archibald  Forbes  is  in  error  in  stating,  in 
the  "  Mexican  Tragedy  "  chapter  of  his  in- 
forming biography  of  Napoleon  III,  that  one 
of  Diaz's  principal  colleagues,  the  brave  General 
Comomfort,  was  killed  in  action.  He  was 
assassinated  by  one  of  the  countless  hordes  of 
desperadoes  who,  as  previously  indicated,  in- 
fested the  whole  countryside.  Several  of  these 
bands  of  robbers  were  led  by  the  notorious 
Tronsaco  brothers,  who  at  that  time  had  as 
many  as  four  hundred  mounted  men.  "  I 
explained  this  condition  of  things  to  General 
Comomfort,"  says  Diaz,  "  when  he  relieved 
me  of  the  army  corps  which  had  been  under 
my  orders.  He  did  not  attach  much  impor- 
tance to  my  report,  and  a  few  days  after  my 
departure,  in  trying  to  make  the  trip  from 
San  Miguel  Allendo  to  Celaya  in  a  coach  with 


MEXICO  :    PORFIRIO  DIAZ        225 

an  armed  escort  of  fifty  mounted  men,  he  was 
assassinated  by  the  Tronsacos,  near  Chama- 
cuero." 

These  banditti  bands  considerably  outhved 
the  Hfe  of  the  Civil  War  in  Mexico,  and,  in  fact, 
it  was  not  until  after  General  Diaz's  second 
election  as  President  of  the  Republic  that  he 
had  their  leaders  arrested.  He  then  hit  upon 
the  not  unhappy  expedient  of  giving  them 
their  choice  between  being  shot  and  taking 
service  under  him  as  captains  of  a  rural  police 
force,  pledged  to  rid  the  country  of  the  robber 
organisations  that  were  menacing  life  and 
property  all  over  Mexico.  The  plan  turned 
out  completely  successful.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  famous  Rurales,  corresponding 
in  authority  and  discipline  to  the  admirable 
mounted  police  of  Canada. 

Porfirio  Diaz  was  re-elected  to  the  Presi- 
dential chair  of  Mexico  time  after  time  for 
upwards  of  thirty  years,  administering  the 
government  of  the  Republic  always  firmly  if 
not  altogether  gently.  It  will  be  well  within 
the  reader's  memory  that  he  in  his  turn  was 
finally  removed  from  power  by  the  Revolution 
which  broke  over  Mexico  in  1910-11. 

The   character   of   Diaz   is   a   complex   and 
p 


226  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

difficult  one  either  to  summarise  or  to  criticise. 
The  Indian  blood  in  his  veins  may  doubtless  be 
held  mainly  responsible  for  the  taint  of  semi- 
savagery  in  his  disposition.  This  showed  itself 
in  several  acts  of  what,  at  a  first  reading,  seem 
like  unjustifiable  barbarities  even  in  war  time. 
He  was  born  for  leadership  in  guerilla  warfare, 
and  we  have  seen  that  he  proved  to  be  the 
determining  factor  in  the  discomfiture  of  the 
Austrian  Archduke's  plans  and  the  French 
Emperor's  ambitions.  But  it  was  when  Diaz 
assumed  the  reins  of  power  over  the  country 
he  had  done  so  much  to  emancipate,  that  he 
developed  more  and  more  the  spirit  of  a 
despotism  which  was  by  no  means  benevolent. 
Even  so,  it  was  not  until  the  twentieth  century 
had  become  well  advanced  that  the  Mexican 
people  succeeded  in  dispensing  with  the  ser- 
vices of  their  President-Dictator. 


CHAPTER    XII 

NORTH   AMERICA  :    "  ROMAN    NOSE  " 
AND    "  SITTING    BULL  " 

The  bitter  and  protracted  strife  waged  between 
the  Red  Indian  and  his  pale-faced  conqueror 
and  oppressor,  resembled  no  other  description 
of  gvierilla  fighting.  It  was  carried  on  by  the 
Red  Man  according  to  methods  entirely  his 
own,  but  with  weapons  partially  acquired 
from  his  enemy.  The  tomahawk  and  scalping- 
knife  he  had  always  possessed,  and  as  time 
went  on  these  were  reinforced  by  the  fowling- 
piece  and  the  heavier  weapon.  Very  truly  has 
it  been  remarked  that  "  no  plan  of  battle  can 
be  drawn  to  describe  an  Indian  contest." 
The  painted  and  befeathered  braves  scarcely 
ever  won  a  battle  unless  it  was  by  dint  of 
masterly  retreat  after  cruel  and  remorseless 
ambuscade,  and  woe  to  the  vanquished  ! — 
this  was  of  the  essence  of  guerilla  fighting  as 
understood  by  the  Redskin.  During  hundreds 
of    years    of    massacre,    pillage,    and    bloody 

reprisals,  he  saw  himself,  nevertheless,   being 

227 


228  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

pressed  farther  back  and  back  into  the  "  Bad 
Lands  "  of  his  open  country  by  the  insidious 
and  untiring  advance  of  the  earth-hungering, 
pale-faced  foe.  There  had  been  brought  to 
him,  too,  a  new  and  deadly  enemy,  the  "  fire- 
water "  of  that  same  pale-face,  who  had  wit 
enough  to  perceive  that  by  stupefying  the  wit 
of  the  Indian  he  might  weave  his  web  around 
the  "  good  "  lands  of  the  poor  native  and  make 
them  all  his  own.  He  brought  rum  and  he 
brought  the  Bible,  but  he  brought  also  the 
bullet  and  the  bayonet. 

The  conflict  we  are  about  to  treat  of  took 
place  long  after  the  red  had  been  driven  far 
afield  by  the  white  and  his  civilising  agencies — 
in  1868,  when  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  line 
had  cut  great  swathes  across  the  prairie  and 
had  filled  the  heart  of  the  Indian  with  fresh 
fears  for  the  dwindlincf  territorv  that  still 
might  be  reckoned  his.  Such  fears  were  only 
too  speedily  realised.  The  rolling  prairie  was 
to  give  way  to  the  rolling  stock — this  primitive 
Indian  man  must  go  to  the  wall. 

His  first  and  last  impulse  was  fight,  and  so 
soon  as  he  received  the  Government's  ultima- 
tum he  commenced  plundering,  burning,  and 
killing  at  all  the  pale-faced  settlements  that  he 


c; 


ROMAN  NOSE,"  "  SITTING  BULL  "  229 


could  come  upon.  The  once  mighty  Sioux  and 
Cheyenne  tribes  were  of  those  most  nearly 
affected  by  Government's  "  request,"  and 
they,  led  by  their  trusted  chief  Roman  Nose, 
mounted  their  shaggy  ponies  and  quitted  the 
wigwam  for  the  war-path.  It  was  on  a  sum- 
mer's day  of  1868  that  the  celebrated  General 
Phil  Sheridan,  then  commanding  the  United 
States  forces,  received  a  request  for  service 
against  the  Indians  from  Colonel  George  A. 
Forsvth,  also  a  hero  of  the  Civil  War.  As  it 
happened,  Sheridan  knew  his  man,  and  he 
promptly  directed  Forsyth  to  raise  and  employ 
a  troop  of  fifty  frontiersmen  as  scouts.  In  a 
few  days,  the  Colonel  had  succeeded  in  en- 
rolling half  a  hundred  of  as  fine  "  cowboys  " 
as  ever  threw  a  lariat,  all  of  them  men  well 
versed  in  the  wily  ways  of  the  Indian.  And 
on  August  29th  Forsyth  was  ordered  by  Sheri- 
dan, whose  head-quarters  were  at  Fort  Hayes 
in  the  State  of  Kansas,  to  proceed  to  Fort 
Wallace  and  report  progress.  On  arrival 
there,  sinister  news  was  forthcoming  from  the 
Government  of  Kansas — news  of  a  shocking 
massacre  perpetrated  by  the  Sioux  at  Sheridan, 
thirty  miles  away.  Forsyth  immediately  rode 
out  at  the  head  of  his  fifty  brave  hearts. 


230  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Coming  upon  signs  of  the  enemy's  recent 
presence  nearly  all  the  way,  they  crossed  the 
Republican  River  and  followed  for  some  dis- 
tance that  fork  of  it  which  is  known  as  the 
Arickaree.  From  the  tracks  it  became  very 
evident  that  a  large  force  of  the  enemy  had  to 
be  reckoned  with,  and  his  men  pointed  out  to 
Forsyth  that  in  the  event  of  a  "  scrap  "  they 
would  stand  very  little  chance  against  such 
numbers  as  the  trail  seemed  to  point  to.  The 
lion-hearted  Colonel  felt,  however,  that  it  was 
his  bounden  duty  to  follow  out  his  orders  to 
the  utmost  of  his  means.  Late  on  September 
16th  they  camped  amid  the  picturesque  sur- 
roundings of  the  Arickaree,  which  is  here  very 
shallow  and,  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  has 
a  little  island.  There  was  not  much  sleep  for 
the  camp  that  night. 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn — alwavs  the 
danger-time  for  Indian  attack — a  heavy  force 
of  Redskins  attempted  to  rush  the  camp. 
They  were  Roman  Nose  and  his  followers.  In 
face  of  a  hot  fire  the  scouts  cleverly  managed 
to  entrench  themselves  roughly  on  the  islet  in 
mid-stream,  and  a  regular  siege  commenced. 
At  the  outset  the  gallant  Forsyth,  in  exposing 
himself  to  give  orders,  was  twice  wounded,  in 


THE    DEATH   OF   "ROMAN   NO«E ' 


"  ROMAN  NOSE,"  "  SITTING  BULL  "  231 

the  right  thigh  and  in  the  leg,  which  was 
broken.  With  wonderful  fortitude  he  ex- 
tracted the  bullet  from  his  thigh  with  a  razor, 
but,  of  course,  the  brave  fellow  was  incapaci- 
tated. His  second-in-command,  Lieutenant 
Beecher,  fell  dead  with  a  groan  of  "  Oh,  my 
poor  mother  !  " 

It  was  afterwards  discovered  that  the  enemy 
amounted  to  a  thousand  strong,  and  most  of 
them  were  splendidly  mounted.  The  scouts' 
position  was  fairly  desperate.  Being  en- 
trenched on  an  island  they  had  plenty  of  fresh 
water,  but  provisions  and  ammunition  were 
bound  to  run  short.  A  further  disaster  was 
the  death  of  the  surgeon  to  the  party.  Dr. 
Mooers,  who  was  shot  down  at  his  merciful 
work.  The  investment  of  the  devoted  band  on 
the  island  lasted  nine  days  and  nights.  The 
Redskin  tactics  consisted  of  a  series  of  desperate 
charges  across  the  shallow  stream,  shrieking 
their  terrifying  war-whoop.  In  one  of  these 
charges,  not  long  after  the  start  of  the  minia- 
ture siege,  Roman  Nose  himself  was  slain. 
Colonel  Forsyth  describes  him  as  the  most 
magnificent  specimen  of  a  "  brave  "  that  he 
saw  in  all  his  Indian  campaigns.  There  was 
much  moaning  and  groaning  over  his  loss,  but 


232  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

the  enemy,  perceiving  the  perilous  position  of 
the  handful  of  scouts,  only  redoubled  their 
embittered  efforts.  They  essayed  charge  after 
charge,  but  always  with  the  same  results. 
There  were  several  more  casualties  among  the 
defenders.  Presently  provisions  gave  out,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  swallow  the  half- 
putrid  flesh  of  horses  and  mules. 

At  long  last,  and  on  the  ninth  morning  of  the 
siege — when  nothing  but  death  and  scalping 
seemed  in  prospect  for  the  half-delirious  sur- 
vivors in  the  trenches — "  a  wild  shout  of  joy 
arose  from  the  long  sedge-grass  of  the  island 
when  over  the  brow  of  a  neighbouring  hill 
came  galloping  a  troop  of  cavalry,  and  rocking 
and  rattling  over  the  rough  ground  a  string  of 
ambulances,  the  drivers  flogging  the  mules 
into  a  furious  run."  The  rescuers  were  the 
10th  United  States  Cavalry  under  Colonel 
Carpenter,  who  was  soon  shaking  hands  and 
congratulating  the  wounded  Forsyth.  The 
relief  had  come  from  Fort  Wallace,  a  hundred 
miles  off. 

More  than  one-half  of  the  fifty  scouts  lay  cold 
in  death  or  grievously  wounded.  But  the 
"  bucks  "  had  been  taught  a  severe  lesson. 


(( 


ROMAN  NOSE,"  "  SITTING  BULL  "  233 


The  Red  Man's  last  battle,  as  it  has  been  not 
inappropriately  termed — at  all  events,  the 
last  victory  won  by  the  Redskin  over  the 
white — was  fought  on  a  June  day  in  1876, 
what  time  the  United  States  were  by  way  of 
celebrating  the  centenary  of  their  Independ- 
ence. It  was  a  last  expiring  effort,  so  to  speak, 
of  the  mighty  Sioux  chief  Sitting  Bull,  and 
with  him  or  under  his  orders  fought  half  a 
dozen  leaders  of  lesser  renown — Crow  King, 
Gall,  Crazy  Horse,  Hump,  Little  Horse, 
Spotted  Eagle,  Low  Dog,  and  Big  Road.  The 
cause  of  quarrel  was,  as  it  ever  was,  the 
decision  of  the  United  States  Government  to 
confine  the  Indians  to  the  "  Reservations  " 
allotted  to  them.  The  Redskin  preferred  to 
roam  at  will,  to  track  and  hunt  as  of  old.  For 
centuries  he  had  seen  himself  being  pushed 
steadily  backwards  by  the  cloven  foot  of 
civilisation,  and  he  had  always  fought  and 
lost.    He  would  fight  and  lose  to  the  end. 

It  was  around  and  upon  the  vast  border- 
lands of  Montana,  Dakota,  and  Wyoming  that 
these  nomads  were  still  engaged  in  futile 
struggle  during  the  winter  of  1875-6.  The 
remnants  of  two  great  historic  tribes  were 
involved,   the   Sioux   and   the   Crow   Indians, 


234  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

led  by  Sitting  Bull  and  Yellow  Face  respec- 
tively. The  first-named  of  these  was  forty-two 
years  of  age,  and  esteemed  a  great  Medicine 
Man.  Like  Tantia  Topee  he  was  no  "  first- 
class  fighting  man,"  but,  also  like  him,  what 
he  lacked  in  physical  courage  he  made  up  in 
subtlety  and  the  cunning  of  an  infinite  re- 
sourcefulness. 

In  the  early  part  of  1876,  when  in  view  of 
the  Indians'  threatening  attitude  it  was  deter- 
mined to  take  the  field  against  them,  Sitting 
Bull  with  a  large  force  of  braves  was  camped 
about  the  Little  Missouri  River,  whilst  Crazy 
Horse  and  his  following  lay  along  the  Powder 
River,  in  Wyoming.  "  The  region,"  says  Mr. 
'  Angus  Evan  Abbott,'  "  was  a  wilderness, 
rugged,  mountainous,  and  deeply  scarred  by 
rapid  streams  and  small  rivers,  and  totally 
unknown  to  the  United  States  soldiers." 
General  Phil  Sheridan  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  a  powerful  punitive  force,  with 
head-quarters  at  Chicago  and  General  Terry 
as  his  second-in-command.  Under  Terry 
served,  as  leaders  of  the  mounted  troops,  two 
distinguished  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War,  Briga- 
dier-Generals Custer  and  Crook — and  very 
early  in  the  campaign  (to  be  exact,  on  March 


(; 


ROMAN  NOSE,"  "  SITTING  BULL  "  235 


17th,  1876)  Crook  was  caught  and  badly 
beaten  by  the  contingent  under  Crazy  Horse. 
This  led  to  a  fresh  plan  of  campaign,  since  the 
Indians  became  enormously  encouraged  after 
the  repulse  of  Crook.  General  George  Arm- 
strong Custer,  at  this  time  in  the  prime  of  life, 
should  and  would  have  had  the  post  of  second- 
in-command  to  Sheridan.  But  President 
Grant  bitterly  disliked  Custer,  and  it  was  only 
on  the  personal  application  of  the  gallant 
Sheridan  that  he  was  permitted  to  go  with  the 
expedition  at  all.  Custer  was  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  manhood,  nearly  six  feet  high  and 
splendidly  proportioned,  a  total  abstainer  and 
anti-tobacconist  from  boyhood.  From  the 
moment  he  left  West  Point  he  had  been  a 
cavalryman.  He  fought  at  Bull  Run  with  the 
5th  Cavalry,  and,  indeed,  in  every  engage- 
ment of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  save  one, 
and  he  captured  the  first  colours  taken  from 
the  Confederates.  But,  like  the  majority  of 
his  colleagues,  he  did  not  know  much  about 
the  ways  of  Indian  fighting. 

We  may  as  well  come  quickly  to  the  trail  of 
the  terrible  tragedy  which  was  to  befall  Custer. 
He  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  7th 
United    States    Cavalrv,    a    fine   regiment    of 


236  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

some  700  sabres.  At  the  outset,  however, 
when  they  crossed  the  Little  Missouri  on 
May  31st,  1876,  and  went  in  search  of  Sitting 
Bull  in  the  Bad  Lands  of  the  Yellowstone,  the 
American  leaders  committed  the  fatal  blunder 
of  dividing  their  force  and  underrating  their 
foe.  On  June  25tli  Sitting  Bull  was  located, 
and  Custer  marched  out  at  the  head  of  his 
regiment  to  try  conclusions  with  the  Red  Man. 
They  were  going  to  explore  the  practically 
unknown  valley  of  the  Little  Big  Horn,  and 
this  gives  its  name  to  the  engagement  which 
ensued.  "  The  command  set  out  for  Sitting 
Bull's  village  shortly  before  noon.  It  was 
divided  into  three  battalions — Major  Reno 
commanding  the  advance.  General  Custer 
following  with  the  second,  and  Captain  Ben- 
teen  the  third,  the  pack-train  being  under  the 
charge  of  Lieutenant  Mathey.  Custer's  bat- 
talion consisted  of  Troops  '  C,'  commanded  by 
the  General's  brother,  T.  W.  Custer ;  '  I,' 
Captain  Keogh  ;  '  F,'  Captain  Yates  ;  '  E,' 
Lieutenants  Smith  and  Sturgis  ;  '  L,'  Lieu- 
tenants Calhoun  and  Crittenden,  with  Lieu- 
tenant Cook,  adjutant,  and  Dr.  Lord,  medical 
officer."  Their  leader  appears  to  have  had 
some    presentiment    of    impending    calamity. 


"  ROMAN  NOSE,"  "  SITTING  BULL  "  237 

"  I  have  never  lieard  General  Custer  talk  like 
that  before,"  said  one  of  his  officers.  *'  I 
believe  he  is  going  to  be  killed." 

Custer  divided  his  little  force  with  very 
great  deliberation,  giving  half  of  it  to  Major 
Reno  with  orders  to  "  charge  the  village,"  and 
himself  intending  to  descend  upon  the  hostile 
encampment  from  the  hills.  Captain  Ben- 
teen's  third  battalion  of  the  regiment  con- 
stituted the  reserve,  and  a  message  from 
Custer  to  that  officer  shortly  after  they 
separated  read  :  "  Benteen,  come  on — big 
village — be  quick — bring  packs." 

From  that  moment  no  word  or  sign  was 
ever  made  from  Custer's  command.  It  was 
destroyed  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  No  man 
escaped.     Only  the  dead  remained. 

It  was  a  destruction  more  utter  and  com- 
plete than,  for  example,  that  which  befell  our 
own  24th  Regiment  in  Zululand  three  years 
afterwards,  because  in  that  instance  a  few  men 
escaped  to  tell  the  bloody  tale.  For  sheer 
completeness  and  mystery  of  horror  it  more 
nearly  resembles,  on. a  larger  scale,  the  wiping 
out  of  the  Shangani  Patrol  by  the  savage 
Matabili  in  December,  1893. 

How   should   we   reconstruct   the   scene   of 


238  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

noble  Custer's  death  ?  It  is  a  matter  of  im- 
possibility to  do  so,  and  a  court-martial  as  to 
Major  Reno's  conduct  failed  to  elicit  a  great 
deal.  That  officer  was  himself  in  some  danger 
(having  eighteen  killed  and  fifty-two  wounded 
in  his  little  command)  until  relieved  by  the 
arrival  of  Terry's  contingent.  A  visit  to  the 
scene  of  General  Custer's  undoing  revealed  the 
melancholy  tale  of  265  corpses,  all  of  them 
scalped  with  the  exception  of  Custer  himself, 
whose  personality  had  been  well  known  to  the 
Indians.  A  large  United  States  force  scoured 
the  "  Bad  Lands  "  for  some  time  thereafter, 
but,  in  spite  of  their  assiduous  marchings  and 
counter-marchings,  they  discovered  no  enemies 
at  all.  The  Red  Man  had  simply  covered 
up  his  tracks  and  disappeared. 

Major  Callwell  ^  has  pointed  out  that  "  the 
affair  on  the  Little  Big  Horn  in  connection 
with  the  strategical  division  of  force  illustrates 
the  danger  of  tactical  separation.  The  column 
which  came  to  grief  consisted  of  twelve  troops 
of  cavalry  with  a  train  of  pack  animals.  On 
getting  touch  with  the  Indians  it  was  formed 
into  four  parties,  one  of  five  troops  under 
Custer  commanding  the  column,  and  two  of 

1  Small  Wars,  p.  153. 


- 


.     VI        Hi 

■  -J 

^i  \ 

-~ti 

Vi    i- 

o    :• 

^  ^ 

«^^, 

K   1 

■a    . 

1    i 

1 

i 

O 


E- 


o 


o 

w 

H 

03 

o 


ta       1^ 


"  ROMAN  NOSE,"  "  SITTING  BULL  "  239 

three  troops  each,  one  of  them  under  Major 
Reno ;    the  fourth,  of  one  troop,  formed  the 
baggage-guard.     The  force  was  moving  down 
the  valley  of  a  stream.    When  it  was  reported 
that   the   enemy's   settlement   was   only   two 
miles  off,  Major  Reno's  party  was  sent  to  the 
front  to  move  rapidly  against  the  enemy,  it 
being  understood  that  Custer  would  support 
him.    The  other  two  parties  had  got  separated 
from  this  main  portion  of  the  force.     Major 
Reno  found  the  Indians  in  great  force,  and 
being  unsupported  he  was,  after  a  hot  fight 
and  heavy  loss,  compelled  to  take  refuge  on  a 
bluff   close    by    which    proved    a   satisfactory 
shelter.     Fortunately  he  was  joined  here  by 
the  two  parties  which  had  gone  astray,  and 
was  enabled  to  hold  his  own  against  the  deter- 
mined   attacks    which    the    Indians,    after    a 
pause,    commenced    and    kept    up    for    many 
hours.     Custer's  force  appears  to  have  moved 
to  the  right  of  the  valley,  as  firing  was  heard 
on  that  side,  and  eventually  it  got  back  to 
near  the  river  some  distance  lower  down  than 
where   Reno's   force   had   taken   up   position. 
This  at  least  was  conjectured  from  the  tracks. 
For  the   force   was   annihilated,   and  nothing 
but  the  bodies  of  men  and  horses  served  to 


240  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

tell  the  tale  of  the  disaster  ;  but  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  case  that  the  five  troops  fell 
in  with  an  overwhelming  force  of  Indians,  and 
that  these  afterwards  came  to  attack  Reno's 
party.  Fortunately  that  officer  secured  a 
good  position,  and  had  partially  entrenched 
himself  while  there  was  yet  time." 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE   EGYPTIAN   SUDAN  :     OSMAN   DIGNA 

OsMAN  DiGNA  signifies  in  the  Arabic  vocabu- 
lary "  Osman  with  the  Beard."  Alternatively 
he  has  been  styled  "  Osman  the  Ugly."  From 
all  published  accounts  that  we  have  seen,  the 
Mahdi's  lieutenant  and  right-hand  man  as- 
suredly seems  to  have  been  ugly  both  as  to 
his  mind  and  his  person.  He  graduated  in 
that  abominable  school  of  slave-trading  which 
the  beneficent  rule  of  England  in  Egypt  has 
since  done  so  much  to  sweep  away,  and,  his 
traffic  in  human  souls  and  bodies  being  sorely 
hampered  by  an  edict  of  the  Kliedive  that 
the  slave-trade  must  cease,  Osman  forthwith 
vowed  vengeance  and  prepared  for  fight.  In 
1883,  the  Mahdi  having  long  since  appeared 
in  the  Sudan  and  having  succeeded  in 
destroying  the  Egyptian  contingent  of  General 
Hicks  Pasha,  he  instructed  Osman  to  prepare, 

Q  241 


242  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

with  all  the  armed  force  at  his  disposal, 
for  the  utter  extermination  of  the  Khedivial 
foe. 

Suakim,  the  historic  port  on  the  Red  Sea 
Littoral  where  the  fanatical  forces  of  Osman 
made  their  protracted  stand  in  1883-4-5,  is 
an  island  about  a  mile  in  circumference. 
Licidentally,  it  is  the  nearest  point  on  the 
sea-coast  to  the  Nubian  Nile.  Mr.  Walter 
Truscott,  who  was  there  in  1885  as  a  special 
artist,  defends  the  place  from  the  charge  of 
ugliness  and  squalor.  "  Picturesque,  un- 
appreciated Suakim !  Venice  of  the  Red 
Sea  !  "  he  writes.  "  What  pleasant  memories 
this  sketch  brings  back  of  sunny  hours  spent 
upon  that  shore  and  amongst  those  distant 
hills."  Presumably,  very  few  of  our  soldiers 
and  bluejackets  who  fought  and  worsted  the 
legions  of  the  celebrated  slave-trader  would  be 
willing  to  endorse  Mr.  Truscott's  favourable 
view,  though  to  be  sure  they  saw  Suakim 
under  not  exactly  the  happiest  or  most 
romantic  conditions. 

The  Sudan  was  at  that  date,  as  it  had 
more  or  less  ever  been,  the  scene  of  unheard- 
of  and  unthinkable  horrors,  perpetrated  upon 
its  wretched  inhabitants  by  the  slave-traders 


OSMAN    DIGNA  243 

and  oppressors  of  whom  Osman  Digna  was  a 
protagonist.  He  was  a  native,  one  might  say 
the  native,  of  the  Port  of  Suakim.  As  the 
prince  of  all  slave-traders,  he  had  dyed  that 
place  in  the  blood  of  countless  victims  of  his 
infamous  calling,  when  the  Khedive's  edict, 
and  the  appearance  of  Government  troops  in 
Lower  Egypt,  practically  ruined  him.  Vowing 
vengeance  is  one  matter  and  acting  it  another, 
but  in  Osman  Digna's  case  both  were  easy. 
The  Sudan  tribe  over  whom  he  exercised  the 
strongest  authority  were  the  warlike  and 
ferocious  Hadendowas,  and  Avhen  he  took  the 
field  they  were  about  the  most  potent  factors 
at  his  back.  With  Osman  to  think  was  to 
do.  He  resolved  to  sweep  the  Eastern  Sudan 
of  Anglo-Egyptian  foes  from  end  to  end.  His 
methods  as  a  guerilla  warrior  were,  we  shall 
find,  slightly  differing  from  any  other  type  of 
the  Eastern  partisan  whom  we  have  met  with 
in  these  pages.  They  were  methods  to  be 
reckoned  with  by  the  bravest  and  most 
strenuous  enemy,  for  no  quarter  was  ever 
given  or  even  dreamed  of  by  him. 

Having  concentrated  his  tribesmen  to  the 
number  of  some  thousands,  one  of  the  great 
slave-trader's  first  blows  was  struck  at  a  con- 


244  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

tingent  of  five  hundred  Egyptian  troops, 
moving  from  Suakim  to  Sinkat  with  Com- 
mander Moncrieff,  r.n.,  who  was  acting  as 
H.B.M.  Consul  at  the  port.  These  were 
completely  wiped  out,  and  so  too  were  seven 
hundred  native  troops  at  Tamai — shortly  after- 
wards the  scene  of  one  of  Osman  Digna's 
"  big  "  battles.  Hugely  encouraged  by  these 
early  successes,  Osman  proceeded  to  lay  siege 
to  the  Egyptian  garrisons  in  Tokar  and 
Sinkat. 

Realising  that  something  must  be  done 
without  delay  for  the  relief  of  these  two  posts, 
the  Government  at  Cairo  dispatched  against 
Osman  a  brigade  of  about  3600  Egyptian 
troops,  commanded  by  Valentine  Baker  Pasha 
("  the  man  on  the  old  white  horse  "),  whose 
staff  included  the  celebrated  Colonel  Fred 
Burnaby.  The  story  of  the  summary  fate  that 
overtook  Baker's  Egyptians  at  the  hands  of 
those  wild  spearmen  is  not  a  pretty  one.  From 
the  very  start  General  Baker's  men  behaved 
very  badly  —  the  "  Gyppy "  soldier  is  a 
very  different  man  to-day,  as  we  all  know, 
thanks  to  British  training  and  example.  Wrote 
one  of  the  English  officers  who  escaped  from 
that  stricken  field,  thanks  to  the  fleetness  of 


OSMAN    DIGNA  245 

their  horses,  "  The  conduct  of  the  Egyptians 
was  simply  disgraceful.  Armed  with  rifle  and 
bayonet,  they  allowed  themselves  to  be 
slaughtered,  practically  without  an  attempt 
at  self-defence,  by  savages  inferior  in  number 
and  armed  only  with  spear  and  sword."  As  a 
fact,  at  Tokar  twelve  hundred  Sudanese 
overwhelmed  nearly  three  times  their  number 
of  Government  troops,  but  these  were  mostly 
hastily  levied  and  reluctant  recruits,  half- 
drilled  and  undisciplined. 

Tokar  and  Sinkat  immediately  fell.  On 
February  8th,  1884,  only  four  days  after  the 
annihilation  of  Baker's  command,  a  terrible 
butchery  was  perpetrated  at  the  latter  place. 
The  Commandant  scorned  to  capitulate  to 
such  savages,  and  in  the  sequel  his  devoted 
little  band  of  four  hundred  were  destroyed  to 
a  man,  in  a  splendid  attempt  to  cut  their  way 
out.  This  was  fine  indeed,  but  again  it  was 
in  contrast  to  the  behaviour  of  the  garrison 
of  Tokar,  who  surrendered  to  Osman,  and 
whose  black  gunners  were  seen  in  Osman's 
ranks  serving  the  guns  taken  from  Baker^s 
brigade. 

General  Sir  Gerald  Graham,  v.c,  was  now 
dispatched  to  teach  the  Hadendowa  ex-slave- 


246  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

merchant  a  lesson.  He  had  with  hhn  a  mixed 
force  of  infantry,  cavahy  and  bluejackets, 
including  such  famous  regiments  as  the  Black 
Watch,  the  Gordons,  and  the  10th  and  19th 
Hussars.  Graham  found  himself  too  late  to 
save  Tokar,'  but  on  February  29th  and  March 
13th,  1884,  he  defeated  Osman  Digna  at 
El-Teb  and  Tamai,  after  two  desperate  and 
bloody  engagements.  The  killed  in  Baker's 
defeat  had  never  been  interred,  the  result 
being  a  sickening  stench  as  our  little  army 
moved  out  to  the  attack.  Before  offering 
battle,  Graham  dispatched  a  written  ulti- 
matum (in  Arabic)  to  the  rebel  leaders,  bidding 
them  disperse  their  fighting-men  before  morn- 
ing or  rue  the  consequences.  This  failed  to 
produce  the  desired  effect.  A  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  close  hand-to-hand  fighting  that 
followed  was  the  ham-stringing  of  numbers  of 
our  cavalry  horses  by  the  savage  tribesmen, 
who  lay  on  the  ground  and  used  their  long 
knives  as  the  Hussars  swept  over  them.  After 
Tamai,  where  he  lost  2000  killed,  the  British 
put  a  price  on  that  chieftain's  head  ;  but  the 
wily  fox  got  clear  away  to  the  mountains, 
alleging  as  excuse  for  his  defeat  that  he  had 
employed  the  "  wrong  fetish." 


OSMAN    DIGNA  247 

His  resistance  was,  however,  only  crippled, 
and  for  the  ensuing  twelvemonth  he  remained 
in    undisturbed    possession    of    a    large    area. 
After  the  fall  of  Khartoum  in  the  early  days 
of  1885,  it  was  decided  by  Lord  Wolseley — 
who    confidently    counted    on    sweeping    the 
Mahdist  hordes  out  of  their  stronghold  in  the 
autumn — that  a  railway  must  be  built  con- 
necting SuakJm  with  Berber  on  the  Nile.    Sir 
Gerald    Graham   was    again    selected   for   the 
enterprise,  and  on  reaching  Suakim  in  March 
he  found  himself  in  command  of  some  13,000 
splendid  troops,  including  a  brigade  of  Guards 
under   Lyon-Fremantle,    an    infantry   brigade 
under  Sir  John  McNeill,  and  an  Indian  native 
brigade.      There    was    also    a    capital    little 
Colonial  (Australian)  contingent,  for  the  death 
of  ■  Gordon   had   aroused   so   martial   a   spirit 
throughout    the    dominions    of    the    Queen- 
Empress  that  offers  of  help  in  re-conquering 
the    Sudan    flowed    in.      An    extraordinarily 
rapid    and    complete    piece    of    organisation 
followed,  the  railway  was  begun,  and  Osman 
Digna    was    warned    not    to    interfere    with 
the  operation.     This,  of   course,   was   British 
"  bluff,"    for   the   rebel   chief   was    known    to 
have  a  large   force   assembled   about   Tamai, 


248 


GUERILLA   LEADERS 


Hasheen  and  Handub,  the  position  somewhat 
resembling  this  : 


Hash 


I 

I 

I 
I 


/ 


/ 


/ 


y^rncii    1/ 


/ 


Qj 


o 


Now  there  were  extensive  wells  at  Hasheen, 
and  it  crossed  Graham's  mind  that  if  only  the 
enemy  could  be  deprived  of  his  water  supply, 
the  rest  would  be  easy.  Accordingly  he 
marched  out  to  seize  these  wells  (March  20th, 
1885)  with  practically  his  whole  available 
force  save  the  Shropshire  Regiment,  who  were 
left  to  garrison  Suakim.  Moving  in  three- 
sides- of -a-square  formation,  the  little  army 
proceeded  on  its  way,  pausing  to  construct 
zerebas  of  thorn  bushes  for  its  protection. 
Anon  the  force  came  under  a  heavv  fire — for 


OSMAN    DIGNA  249 

the  amount  of  smuggling  in  firearms  that  had 
been  going  on  along  the  Red  Sea  was  amazing, 
plus  the  many  weapons  taken  from  the 
Egyptian  troops  whom  the  tribesmen  had  so 
often  worsted.  A  tremendous  charge  of  spear- 
men against  the  square  formation  which  our 
troops  rapidly  completed,  was  beaten  off 
with  heavy  loss,  and  then  the  5th  Lancers 
and  Bengal  Lancers  were  let  loose  at  them. 
The  enemy  sullenly  retreated  towards  Tamai, 
leaving  about  a  thousand  dead  of  the 
3000  men  with  whom  they  had  entered  the 
fight. 

So  far,  good.  But  it  was  of  the  first  im- 
portance that  Osman  Digna  should  be  taught 
a  really  severe  lesson  before  the  business  of 
building  the  line  could  be  effectively  proceeded 
with.  On  this  occasion,  the  command  of  a 
powerful  mixed  force— Berkshire  Regiment, 
Royal  Marines,  Bluejackets,  Indian  infantry, 
etc. — was  entrusted  to  Sir  John  McNeill,  and 
the  terrible  melee  which  ensued  is  alter- 
natively known  as  the  battle  of  Tofrik  or 
McNeill's  Zereba.  This  happened  on  Sunday, 
March  22nd.  The  force  was  in  the  act  of 
"  forming  zereba  "  some  six  miles  from  Suakim, 
when    like    a   surging   torrent   the   Dervishes 


250  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

descended  upon  our  unready  troops.  Proper 
precautions  against  surprise  had  not  been 
taken,  and  the  magnificent  courage  of  his 
men  preserved  McNeill's  brigade  from  anni- 
hilation. The  folloAving  graphic  pen-picture 
of  the  scene  within  the  square  is  culled  from 
Mr.  Wentworth  Huyshe,  the  Times  correspon- 
dent : 

"...  Walter  Paget  of  the  Illustrated 
London  News  was  calmly  making  an  admir- 
able sketch  of  a  single  combat  between  a 
Hadendowa  swordsman  and  a  poor  little 
Tommy  Atkins.  '  Tommy '  was  doing  his 
best  with  his  regulation  sword  (made  in 
Germany  ?)  against  the  tremendous  two- 
handed  sidelong  sweeps  dealt  out  by  the 
swordsman  ;  but  it  suddenly  occurred  to  him 
to  deliver  cut  No.  7  which,  much  to  the 
surprise  probably  of  both  combatants,  cut 
the  Arab's  head  down  through  the  skull. 
Next  moment  poor  Tommy  himself  fell  dead 
at  our  feet,  shot  through  the  lungs  by  our  own 
fire,  I  think,  from  the  rallying  square  of  a 
detachment  of  the  Berkshires  which  had  been 
caught  outside,  and  was  being  desperately  and 
incessantly  charged  by  the  enemy.  Mean- 
while, the  Berkshires  and  we  in  the  Marines' 


OSMAN    DIGNA  251 

zereba  were  firing  terrific  volleys  into  our  own 
transport  animals,  behind  and  among  which 
the  enemy  was  in  great  force.  A  sight  it  was 
to  see  those  poor  beasts,  stung  by  the  deadly 
hail,  rear  their  great  bodies  into  the  air.  In 
the  Berkshires'  zereba,  at  the  diagonally  oppo- 
site end  of  the  position,  the  hand-to-hand 
fight  was  in  full  swing.  The  Catling  gun 
redoubt  had  been  rushed  by  the  enemy,  all  our 
poor  fellows  near  it  slain,  and  the  Berkshire 
working  parties  who  had  run  towards  their 
stacked  rifles,  which  were  between  them  and 
the  charging  enemy  (a  notable  deed  !  ),  were 
fighting  hard,  bayonet  and  bullet  v.  spear  and 
sword.  Not  a  man  of  the  enemy  got  out  of  the 
zereba  alive  :  they  died  there,  a  hundred  brave 
men  and  more,  under  the  shadow  of  the  sacred 
banner  which  they  had  planted  on  the  re- 
doubt." 

About  sixty  Dervishes  fought  their  desperate 
way  right  into  the  equally  unready  zereba  of 
the  Royal  Marines,  and  were  there  shot  or 
stabbed.  There  were  many  isolated  acts  of 
self-devotion,  notably  that  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  chaplain,  Father  Collins.  Taking  his 
life  in  his  hands  he  crossed  the  shot-swept 
area  with  a  message  commanding  one  of  the 


252  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Indian  regiments  to  "  Cease  fire,"  as  they 
were  firing  wildly  and  to  the  common  danger. 
In  twenty  minutes — that  was  the  whole  period 
of  time  covered  by  the  action — some  1500 
out  of  5000  of  the  enemy  were  accounted 
for.  Our  own  butcher's  bill  was  fairly  heavy, 
and  thanks  to  the  inevitable  firing  at  and 
through  the  baggage  animals,  no  less  than 
five  hundred  poor  camels  and  mules  were 
disposed  of.  But  it  was  the  aftermath  that 
was  the  most  terrible. 

Until  the  arrival  of  General  Graham  with 
the  Guards  Brigade  next  morning,  a  night  of 
horror  was  passed  by  the  exhausted  troops  on 
the  bloody  ground.  "  After  the  great  soldiers' 
battle  at  Tofrik,"  wrote  Mr.  Truscott,  "  when 
our  brave  boys  of  the  Berkshire  Regiment  and 
the  Royal  Marines  had  sustained  the  shock 
and  held  their  ground  against  countless  hordes 
of  black  fiendish  warriors,  a  strange,  dazed 
feeling  fell  on  everyone  ;  the  uncanny  foe  had 
been  suddenly  met  face  to  face  and  grappled 
with  hand  to  hand.  Like  the  genii  of  the 
Arabian  tale  he  had  seemed  to  rise  out  of  the 
sands  of  the  mysterious  desert,  and  on  the 
whirlwind  that  lifted  its  column  of  brown  dust 
in  fantastic  shape  had  swept  between  the  two 


OSMAN    DIGNA  253 

unfinished  zerebas,  carrying  before  him  the 
great  convoy  to  be  scattered  over  the  plain. 
After  the  short  sharp  tumult  came  again  the 
impressive  silence,  broken  by  moans  and  cries 
of  pain  ;  hundreds  of  our  comrades  who  but 
now  were  full  of  life  lay  still  for  ever,  but  the 
attack  might  be  made  again  at  any  moment, 
and  every  eye  and  ear  were  painfully  strained 
towards  the  bush  from  which  the  danger 
threatened.  .  .  .  Day  followed  day  with  no 
diversion  for  our  thoughts  or  shelter  from 
the  burning  sun  that  scorched  our  brains, 
while  the  stench  from  thousands  of  unburied 
bodies  of  men  and  animals  sickened  our 
souls." 

This  correspondent  might  have  added  that 
at  night-time  a  ray  of  hope  seemed  to  come 
from  the  British  warships  at  anchor  off  Suakim, 
whose  searchlight  illuminated  the  desert  for 
miles  around,  seeming  to  give  promise  of  better 
things  in  store. 

It  had  been  hoped,  to  be  sure,  that  at  an 
early  date  the  decisive  blow  would  be  struck 
at  this  elusive  Osman  and  his  savage  guerilla 
spearmen  and  camelmen.  But  suddenly,  and 
to  everyone's  dismay,  the  Government  of  the 
day   decided   upon   the  abandonment   of  the 


254  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Sudan.  The  railway,  which  was  to  have 
effected  so  much  as  an  outpost  and  precursor 
of  civilisation,  was  summarily  stopped  when 
it  had  reached  no  more  than  fifteen  miles 
along  the  desert  towards  Berber,  and  all  the 
troops  were  withdrawn  excepting  a  small 
garrison  retained  at  Suakim.  The  "  honours  " 
decidedly  remained  with  Osman  the  crafty, 
who  was  pleased  to  describe  Tofrik  as  a  com- 
plete and  decisive  Mahdist  victory.  It  has 
been  pointed  out  by  Major  Callwell  ^  how 
aptly  this  sudden  onslaught  illustrates  the 
difficulty  of  outj^ost  duties  in  special  circum- 
stances. The  bush  around  the  half-finished 
zerebas  was  so  high  and  thick  that  even  our 
vedettes  could  see  little  at  the  distance  of  half 
a  mile.  When,  therefore,  these  pickets  rushed 
back  on  the  main  body,  the  enemy  attacked  so 
rapidly  that  they  came  on  at  their  very  heels. 
So  it  turned  out  that  the  outposts  were  of 
little  use,  since  the  enemy  came  to  close 
quarters  before  any  real  warning  could  be 
acted  upon.  They  even  masked  the  fire  of  the 
main  body  to  a  considerable  extent.  In  fine, 
Major  Callwell  is  of  the  opinion  that  in  such  a 
case   as  the   battle   of    Tofrik,  no   system  of 

*  Small  Warn. 


OSMAN    DIGNA  255 

outposts  that  could  be  devised  would  afford 
real  security. 

When  the  re-conquest  of  the  Sudan  was 
tardily  decided  upon,  twelve  years  later, 
Osman  Digna  was  acting  as  the  "  first  lieu- 
tenant "  of  the  Khalifa,  the  Mahdi  having 
died  meanwhile.  He  was  present  at  the  battle 
of  Omdurman  in  1898,  and  at  the  Khalifa's 
disastrous  battle  at  Gedid  in  the  ensuing  year. 
He  escaped  after  the  latter  fight  however,  and 
after  a  long  march  on  foot,  as  a  hunted 
fugitive,  he  was  finally  captured  in  the  AVarriba 
Hills,  some  ninety  miles  south-west  of  Suakim, 
by  Captain  Burges  at  the  head  of  a  police 
patrol,  in  January,  1900.  Sheik  Ali  Omar  Or, 
of  the  Gamilab  tribe,  had  given  the  patrol 
secret  information  which  led  to  the  betrayal 
and  capture  of  the  old  slave-trader. 

He  was  sent  to  Rosetta,  in  Egypt,  to  join 
the  other  Dervish  prisoners,  and  remained 
there  up  to  the  end  of  1902.  He  was  then 
transferred  to  the  Damietta  prison,  and  subse- 
quently to  Wady  Haifa,  where  he  has  since 
been  residing  in  an  exceedingly  mild  captivity. 
He  is  now  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age. 
Osman  Amu  Bakr  Digna,  to  give  him  his  full 
names,  is  said  to  be  of  Kurdish  descent.     His 


256  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

ancestors  were  soldiers  in  the  army  of  Sultan 
Selim  the  Conqueror,  who  immigrated  and 
settled  in  Suakim  some  hundreds  of  years  ago. 
These  appear  to  have  intermarried  with  the 
Hadendowas,  and  hence  the  origin  of  the 
Digna  tribe. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

SOUTH   AFRICA  :     DE    WET   AND    DELAREY 

"  Hofer's  Tyrolese,  Charette's  Vendeans,  or  Bruce's  Scotsmen  never 
fought  a  finer  fight  than  these  children  of  the  Veldt." 

Sir  A.  Coxan  Doyle. 

General  Christiaan  De  Wet,  in  his  natur- 
ally biased  but  very  remarkable  book,  Three 
Years^  War,  raises  powerful  objections  to  the 
application  of  the  term  "  guerilla  warfare  "  to 
the  operations  conducted  by  himself  and 
General  Delarey  in  the  concluding  stages  of 
the  Boer  War.  General  De  Wet  proceeds, 
"  We  will  suppose  that  England  has  captured 
New  York,  St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  Paris,  or 
any  other  capital  of  a  free  and  independent 
State,  Kingdom,  or  Empire,  and  that  the 
Government  of  such  State,  Kingdom,  or  Em- 
pire still  continues  to  defend  itself.  Would 
England  then  be  entitled  to  call  its  antagonists 
'  guerillas  '  ?  Or  we  will  suppose  that  Eng- 
land's capital  has  been  taken  by  another 
nation,  but  the  English  Government  still  re- 
mains in  existence.     Could  England  then  be 

R  257 


258  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

considered  to  be  annexed  by  the  other  nation, 
and  could  the  enemy  term  the  EngHsh  '  gueril- 
las '  ?  Surely  it  would  be  impossible.  The 
only  case  in  which  one  can  use  this  word  is 
when  one  civilised  nation  has  so  completely 
vanquished  another  that  not  only  is  the 
capital  taken,  but  the  country  from  border  to 
border  is  so  completely  conquered  that  any 
resistance  is  out  of  the  question.  But  that 
nothing  like  this  happened  in  South  Africa  is 
clear  to  everyone  who  recalls  the  names  of 
Lindley,  Roodewal,  Dewetsdorp,  Vlakfontein, 
Tafelkop,  and  Tweefontein,  not  to  speak  of 
many  other  glorious  battlefields  on  which  we 
fought  after  the  so-called  annexation." 

The  fact  remains  that  the  conditions  peculiar 
to  the  splendidly-conducted  "  running  fight  " 
maintained  for  many  months  during  1901-2 
by  De  Wet's  gallant  but  depleted  Commando, 
were  essentially  those  of  partisan  war.  Nor 
can  I  discover  one  solid  or  satisfactory  reason 
why  the  illustrious  Boer  leader  should  have 
objected  so  energetically  to  be  classed  with 
such  magnificent  types  of  the  irregular  soldier 
as  those  whose  deeds  I  have  chronicled  in 
previous  chapters,  and  notably  in  the  section 
devoted  to  the  American  Civil  War. 


DE    WET    AND    DELAHEY        259 

A  more  important  point  to  settle  is  that  of 
the  precise  period  at  which  De  Wet's  hostile 
operations  may  be  said  to  have  assumed  the 
character  of  a  guerilla  war.  After  mature 
consideration,  and  the  comparison  of  many 
leading  authorities  on  the  subject,  I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  era  of  definite 
change  in  tactics  dates  from  his  being  driven 
into  the  Transvaal  by  the  converging  move- 
ment of  several  British  columns,  and  by  the 
unconditional  surrender  of  General  Prinsloo 
and  his  3000  burghers  to  General  Sir  Archibald 
Hunter — that  is  to  say,  about  August,  1900. 
(General  Olivier,  though  included  by  Prinsloo 
in  the  surrender,  dishonourably  escaped  with 
1500  men.)  We  will  therefore  date  from  the 
day  when  the  De  Wet  commando,  then  con- 
sisting of  some  2500  horsemen,  was  compelled 
to  cross  the  Vaal  River,  i.e.  on  August  3rd, 
1900.  De  Wet  had  already  gained  several 
noteworthy  successes  along  our  immensely 
extended  lines  of  communication — notably  at 
Lindley,  where  470  Yeomanry  under  Colonel 
Spragge  were  disposed  of,  and  near  Roodeval 
Station,  where  the  4th  Derbyshire  Regiment 
(militia)  were  captured  and  Colonel  Baird- 
Douglas    killed.      The    Boers    destroyed    the 


260  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Rhenoster  Bridge  and  scientifically  wrecked 
the  line  for  many  miles,  rather  wantonly 
burning  a  train  containing  the  mails  from 
home  intended  for  the  English  "  Tommies." 

The  Boer  General  claims  that  at  this  time 
he    had    in    arms    against   him    "  five    or    six 
British   Generals   and  40,000  troops."     It   is 
important     to    note    that     President    Steyn 
and  the    Orange    Free    State    "government" 
travelled  with   De   Wet's  head-quarters,   and 
that    the    latter's    strength    was    constantly 
fluctuating    as    circumstances    dictated,    from 
two    or    three    thousand    to    a    few    hundred 
burghers.     In  the  earlier  stages  the  force  was 
well-found,  each  man  having  a  led  horse  and 
the  ammunition  carried  in  Cape  carts.     What 
manner    of    man    was    their    renowned    chief 
personally  ?     "  Christiaan  De  Wet,  the  elder 
of  two  brothers  of  that  name,  was  at  this  time 
in  the  prime  of  life,  a  little  over  forty  years  of 
age.     He  was  a  burly,  middle-sized,  bearded 
man,  poorly  educated,  but  endowed  with  much 
energy  and  commonsense.     His  military  ex- 
perience dated  back  to  Majuba  Hill,  and  he 
had  a  large  share  of  that  curious  race  hatred 
which  is  intelligible  in  the  case  of  the  Trans- 
vaal, but  inexplicable  in  a  Free  Stater,  who 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        261 

has  received  no  injury  from  the  British  Empire. 
Some  weakness  of  his  sight  compels  the  use  of 
tinted  spectacles,  and  he  now  turned  these, 
with  a  pair  of  particularly  observant  eyes 
behind  them,  upon  the  scattered  British  forces 
and  the  long  exposed  line  of  railway."^ 

If  there  is  a  fault  to  be  found  with  General 
De  Wet's  own  unique  record  of  the  war,  it  lies 
in  his  frequent  and  unnecessary  appeals  to 
the  God  of  Battles.  Thus,  immediately  before 
this  first  flight  into  the  Transvaal,  he  had  the 
good  fortune  to  capture  one  of  our  railway 
trains.  "  Instead  of  finding  ourselves  captured, 
we  had  taken  ninety-eight  prisoners  and 
destroyed  a  heavily-laden  train.  How  fre- 
quently a  Higher  Power  overrules  the  future 
in  a  way  we  least  expect." ^ 

In  crossing  the  Vaal  at  Schoemansdrift, 
De  Wet  did  indeed  auspiciously  inaugurate 
his  great  game  of  hide-and-seek  by  cleverly 
evading  the  envelopment  of  several  converging 
hostile  columns  ;  and  shortly  afterwards — we 
are  now  at  the  middle  of  August — he  decided 
upon  a  rush  back  into  the  Free  State  with 
General   Philip   Botha   and   250   picked   men. 

>  Conau  Doyle,  The  Great  Boer  War,  p.  343. 
'^  Three  Years'  War,  p.  173. 


262  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

Naturally  it  took  the  British  some  time  to 
appreciate  the  meaning  of  this  new  move  by 
the  adventurous  raiders,  who  were  making  for 
the  great  road  that  runs  from  Rustenburg 
to  Pretoria.  The  fortunate  capture  of  two 
English  scouts  apprised  them,  however,  that 
they  were  in  imminent  danger  of  being  sur- 
rounded— "  we  found  ourselves,"  tersely  com- 
ments De  Wet,  "  between  four  fires."  In  this 
emergency  he  decided  to  cross  the  main  spur 
of  the  Magalies  Mountains — an  elevation  of 
2000  feet — though  warned  by  a  Kaffir  that 
"  baboons,  but  not  a  man"  could  successful^ 
negotiate  them.  And  the  weary  burghers 
actually  scaled  these  almost  perpendicular 
heights  in  full  view  of  one  of  Lord  Roberts' 
pursuing  columns  !  On  the  night  of  the  22nd 
they  were  across  the  Vaal  and  in  the  Free 
State  again,  in  the  vicinity  of  Potchefstroom 
which  De  Wet  "  visited." 

At  this  point  the  General  strikes  a  sancti- 
monious chord  once  more,  remarking  that 
"  here  I  had  the  most  wonderful  of  all  the 
escapes  that  God  allowed  me  in  the  war." 
This  was  the  non-success  of  an  attempt  at  his 
betrayal  by  a  Hottentot,  who,  after  inter- 
viewing De  Wet  on  the  subject  of  employ- 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        263 

merit,  seems  to  have  given  information  as  to 
where  his  English  pursuers  might  iind  him 
sleeping ;  but  the  plot  miscarried.  The 
"  energetic  gentleman  with  the  tinted  glasses," 
as  Sir  Conan  Doyle  calls  him,  signalised  his 
escape  by  wrecking  a  large  tract  of  railway 
line,  after  which  he  doubled  back  and  enjoyed 
a  smart  fight  with  the  British  near  Roodeval. 
It  was  now  (autumn)  that  the  Boer  Com- 
mander-in-Chief carried  out  his  celebrated 
scheme  of  re-arming  nearly  3000  burghers  who 
had  taken  the  oath  of  neutrality,  claiming  in 
defence  of  this  doubtful  proceeding  that  the 
English  had  been  equally  guilty  of  breach  of 
faith  in  deporting  the  Boer  prisoners  to  Ceylon 
and  St.  Helena,  and  in  other  matters  of  detail. 
The  fact  was,  that  the  conflict  had  now  entered 
upon  its  bitterest  stage  with  the  realisation  by 
the  handful  of  desperate  burghers  that  they 
had  come  to  the  last  ditch.  De  Wet  had 
ordered  a  strong  detachment  of  these  re-armed 
burghers  to  assemble  at  Heilbron  on  September 
25th,  but  he  found  to  his  dismay  that  many  of 
them  had  come  accompanied  by  their  cumber- 
some ox- waggons.  ("At  such  moments  as 
these,"  says  the  General  in  his  mock-religious 
strain,   "  one  would  be  wellnigh  driven  mad 


264  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

were  there  not  a  Higher  Power  to  hold  one 
back.")  The  General  immediately  ordered 
the  waggons  to  be  abandoned  or  sent  away, 
but  he  claims  that  the  unwillingness  of  many 
of  the  burghers  to  be  parted  from  their  only 
property  led  to  numerous  desertions,  etc.  In 
October  and  November  the  commando  met 
with  a  couple  of  severe  reverses.  General 
Barton  was  now  fully  conversant  with  the 
right  tactics  to  pursue,  and  in  a  smart  action 
with  his  flying  column  the  Boers  lost  sixty 
killed  and  captured,  and  were  forced  to  re- 
cross  the  Vaal  River.  On  November  6th  thej'^ 
were  surprised  near  Bothaville  by  the  gallant 
Colonel  Le  Gallais,  "  without  doubt  one  of  the 
bravest  English  officers  I  have  ever  met."  ^ 
Le  Gallais,  who  had,  in  Sir  A.  Conan  Doyle's 
felicitous  phrase,  "  infected  every  man  under 
him  with  his  own  spirit  of  reckless  daring," 
fell  mortally  wounded.  "  Tell  my  mother  I 
die  happy,  as  we  got  the  guns,"  were  almost 
his  last  words. 

If  General  De  Wet's  figures  are  to  be  trusted, 
the  disparity  of  force  on  this  occasion  amounted 
to  little  or  nothing,  Le  Gallais  having  perhaps 
a    thousand    men    against    800    Boers.      The 

1  Three  Years   War,  p.  215. 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY         265 

latter,  in  addition  to  forty  or  fifty  killed  or 
wounded,  lost  100  prisoners,  including  several 
leaders  of  distinction,  six  Krupp  guns,  and 
1000  head  of  cattle.  The  horses  of  the  burgh- 
ers were  bv  this  time  in  a  terribly  emaciated 
condition  ;  but  the  dauntless  and  indefatigable 
De  Wet,  still  able  to  muster  1500  followers, 
next  headed  for  a  point  on  the  historic  Modder 
River.  To  do  this  he  had  to  run  the  gauntlet 
— or  to  "  race  through,"  to  use  his  own 
expression — of  two  of  the  great  chain  of  forts 
which  had  been  constructed  between  Bloem- 
fontein  and  Ladybrand.  This  dashing  ma- 
noeuvre was  effected,  and  the  raiders  found 
themselves  close  to  Dewetsdorp,  a  town  which 
had  been  christened  after  their  leader's  father. 
Now  Dewetsdorp  was  garrisoned  by  500  of  the 
Gloucestershire  Regiment,  the  Irish  Rifles,  and 
the  Highland  Light  Infantry,  so  that  the 
burghers  were  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  a  bold  and  dashing  thing 
for  them  to  surround  and  compel  the  surrender 
of  this  isolated  post.  The  garrison  made  a 
gallant  resistance,  holding  out  for  several 
days,  and  it  w^as  not  until  nearly  one-fifth  of 
them  had  been  shot  down  that  Major  Glassy 
surrendered     Dewetsdorp     (November     23rd, 


266  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

1900)  with  400  prisoners,  two  guns,  and  a  large 
number  of  small  arms  ;  a  relieving  column 
arrived  too  late.  De  Wet  was  "  one  of  the 
first  to  ride  into  the  British  trenches,  and  the 
prisoners  gazed  with  interest  at  the  short, 
strong  figure,  with  the  dark  tail  coat  and  the 
square-topped  bowler  hat,  of  the  most  famous 
of  Boer  leaders."  Sixteen  out  of  eighteen 
men  serving  one  of  the  captured  guns  were 
killed  or  wounded. 

Apart  from  the  dash  and  daring  of  the 
exploit,  Dewetsdorp  gained  the  guerillas 
nothing  save  the  useless  encumbrance  of 
several  hundred  prisoners,  who,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  they  treated  shamefully  before  releasing 
them — again  and  again  they  released  their 
captives  almost  at  once,  simply  because  they 
could  not  keep  them — and  the  vicinity  of 
their  victory  was,  of  course,  too  hot  to  hold 
them.  De  Wet  therefore  made  for  Cape 
Colony  again,  only  to  find  that  General  Charles 
Knox  was  at  his  heels  with  a  large  force,  and 
that  both  the  Orange  and  Caledon  Rivers  were 
in  flood.  "  It  rained  so  hard  while  we  were 
fording  the  Caledon,"  the  General  quaintly 
writes,  "  that,  as  the  Boers  say,  '  it  was  enough 
to  kill  the  big  devils  and  cut  off  the  legs  of  the 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        267 

little  ones.' "  Hemmed  in  between  two  great 
rivers  in  flood,  it  really  did  seem  at  last  as  if 
this  wizard  of  the  veldt  was  at  the  end  of  his 
resources.  .rJMany  of  his  horses  were  so  weak 
that  the  men  had  to  proceed  on  foot.  It  would 
have  been  a  rich  prize  for  the  English,  seeing 
that  Mr.  Steyn  was  with  De  Wet's  head- 
quarters. Moreover,  all  detachments  having 
been  called  in  for  this  elaborate  attempt  on 
Cape  Colony,  De  Wet  was  in  great  strength, 
and  so  large  a  capture  would  almost  have 
closed  the  war.  But  Providence  was  on  his 
side  again,  and  the  General  does  not  omit  to 
emphasise  this  fact :  "  our  marvellous  escape 
can  only  be  ascribed  to  the  irresistible  pro- 
tection of  Almighty  God,  Who  kept  His  hand 
graciously  over  us."  In  a  word,  these  2500 
galloping  horsemen,  having  previously  found 
a  ford  across  the  Orange  River,  got  clear  away 
by  the  seemingly  impossible  expedient  of  riding 
directly  between  two  of  the  English  forts  at 
Springhaansek,  which  vomited  lead  at  them 
all  the  time.  Near  Christmas,  1900,  was  the 
date  of  this  miraculous  escape.  The  enterprise 
had  cost  the  guerillas  100  men,  500  horses,  and 
a  couple  of  guns. 

On  New  Year's  Day  De  Wet,  having  slightly 


268  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

rested  his  worn-out  men  and  horses  in  the 
Ficksburg  Mountains,  marched  to  Roodewal 
with  carts  and  dug  up  a  quantity  of  ammuni- 
tion which  he  had  buried  there  after  his  affair 
of  the  previous  June.  Sending  many  of  his 
men  home  to  their  farms  to  procure  a  second 
horse  for  the  purpose,  he  determined  on  a 
further  attempt  against  Cape  Colony.  He 
found  he  had  still  available  (January  25th, 
1901)  some  2000  men,  and  President  Steyn 
elected  to  accompany  the  expedition — indeed, 
it  is  hard  to  see  what  else  he  could  have  done, 
poor  man,  in  the  desperate  circumstances  of 
his  environment.  De  Wet's  new  raid  was 
prefaced  by  minor  "  invasions  "  by  Hertzog's 
and  Kritzinger's  commandos,  but  he  never 
succeeded  in  joining  hands  with  either. 
Briefly,  their  attempts  failed,  though  the 
resistance  of  the  Commandant  and  his  burgh- 
ers was  to  be  prolonged  —  somehow  —  for 
another  twelvemonth.  Knox  was,  as  before, 
the  opposing  General.  The  Boers  discovered 
that  the  grass  had  been  entirely  destroyed  by 
locusts,  and  they  could  not  obtain  any  fodder  ; 
but  then  "  there  is  no  force  so  easy  to  drive 
and  so  difficult  to  destroy  "  as  a  Boer  army. 
Marching    and    counter-marching,    they    were 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        269 

compelled  to  abandon  their  two  last  guns  on 
February  23rd,  which  happened  to  be  the 
forty-seventh  anniversary  of  the  Free  State's 
independence.  This  time  it  was  night  that 
saved  De  Wet  from  capture.  After  seventeen 
days  of  narrow  escape  and  futile  manoeuvring 
(with  one  isolated  success,  when  he  cut  up  a 
squad  of  Colenbrander's  Scouts),  he  luckily 
struck  a  ford  in  the  swollen  Orange  River. 
"  Soon  the  river  was  one  mass  of  men  from 
bank  to  bank.  I  can  hardlv  describe  the 
different  exclamations  of  joy,  the  psalms  and 
songs  that  now  rose  up  from  the  burghers 
splashing  through  the  water.  '  Never  will  we 
return ! '  '  No  more  of  the  Colony  for  me.' 
'  On  to  the  Free  State  !  '  '  The  Free  State 
for  ever  !  '  Then  again,  '  Praise  the  Lord  with 
cheerful  song  !  Hurrah  !  '  These  were  among 
the  expressions  which  met  my  ears.  Although 
this  was  only  an  old  waggon  ford,  which  had 
not  been  used  for  the  last  few  years,  my  little 
waggon  and  a  few  carts  got  across.  One  of 
the  carts  was  drawn  by  two  small  donkeys. 
Somebody  told  me  that  these  little  donkeys 
had  to  swim  a  short  distance  where  it  was  deep, 
and  at  one  time  disappeared  beneath  the 
water;  but  that  the  driver  was  so  full  of  joy — 


270  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

or  fear — that  he  went  on  whipping  the  water. 
A  fearful  experience  we  had  had  !  We  asked 
each  other  in  wonder,  '  Is  it  possible  ?  How 
could  we  have  endured  it  ?  '  "^ 

His  second  invasion  of  the  Colony  had  cost 
De  Wet  all  his  guns  and  convoy,  300  men,  and 
some  4000  horses. 

At  the  end  of  February  the  General  met 
Louis   Botha    in    conference,    and   the   latter 
reported   his   failure  to  come  to  terms  with 
Lord  Kitchener.     In  April  De  Wet  travelled 
360  miles,  between  Heilbron  and  Petrusburg, 
terribly  and  constantly  harassed  by  General 
Plumer  and  others.    In  May  he,  in  conjunction 
with  Delarey — practically   the   only   occasion 
when  they  "  joined  hands  "  during  the  war — 
failed   in   an   attempt   to   rescue   some   Boer 
women  who  were  being  escorted  to  the  Con- 
centration   Camps    which    the    English    had 
established  in  order  to  stop  the  useless  struggle. 
For  the  period  of  block-houses,  "  drives,"  and 
night  attacks  by  Lord  Kitchener's  army  had 
now   begun,    and    from   November,  1901,  De 
Wet  could  never  count  upon  more  than  700 
burghers.    Moreover,  these  were  rapidly  losing 
heart.    One  of  their  last  successes  was  gained 

1  Three  Yean'  War,  p.  276. 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        271 

at  Tweefontein  before  dawn  of  Christmas 
Day,  when  350  of  the  4th  Imperial  Yeomanry 
were  all  killed  or  captured,  with  the  loss  of  an 
Armstrong  and  Maxim  gun.  This  fight  was 
an  affair  of  splendid  daring  on  the  Boers'  part. 
They  stole  up  to  the  convivial  Christmas  camp 
in  their  stockinged  feet,  and  rushed  the  posi- 
tion. "  In  the  confusion,"  wrote  an  eye- 
witness, "  some  of  the  men  killed  each  other, 
and  some  even  killed  themselv^es.  Two  Boers 
who  put  on  helmets  were  killed  by  their  own 
people."  Major  Williams,  commanding  the 
Yeomen,  was  shot  through  the  stomach,  and 
so  tenacious  was  the  resistance  in  this  mel(^e 
before  dawn  that  we  had  6  officers  and  51  men 
killed,  8  officers  and  81  men  wounded. 

De  Wet's  last  big  adventure  was  what  he 
himself  describes  as  "  cutting  my  way  through 
sixty  thousand  troops."  While  this  is  perhaps 
a  somewhat  grandiloquent  description  of  what 
actually  took  place,  it  is  in  effect  true  that  he 
and  many  of  his  men  did  during  the  early 
weeks  of  1902  manage  to  break  through  the 
living  cordon  which  the  skill  of  Lord  Kitchener 
and  his  subordinates  had  drawn  around  them. 
De  Wet  danced  like  a  will-o'-the-wisp  round 
the  British  columns,  but,  he  confesses,  "  with 


272  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

the  others  it  fared  ill."  On  a  previous  anni- 
versary of  the  English  defeat  at  Majuba 
(February  27th),  Cronje  and  his  army  had  been 
captured  at  Paardeberg,  and  now  on  another 
anniversary  of  the  same  event  Commandant 
van  Merwe  and  400  burghers  were  compelled 
to  lay  down  their  arms,  among  these  prisoners 
being  De  Wet's  son.  In  one  "  drive  "  alone 
the  enemy  lost  2000  horses  and  50,000  cart- 
ridges. Owing  to  the  captures  of  clothing  and 
other  necessaries  by  Rimington's  Scouts,  De 
Wet  says  he  was  reduced  to  the  suit  of  clothes 
he  stood  up  in — but  I  should  here  remind  the 
reader  that  it  had  long  since  become  a  practice 
with  the  Boers  to  replenish  their  scanty  ward- 
robes by  stripping  their  prisoners  naked.  On 
the  night  of  March  12th  De  Wet  and  Steyn 
(who  was  now  dangerously  ill)  broke  through 
the  block-house  line  near  Bothaville  and  got 
into  the  Transvaal  to  join  General  Delarey, 
who  had  been  winning  minor  victories  which  I 
shall  presently  speak  of.  Some  months  pre- 
viously, Lord  Kitchener  had  deemed  it  neces- 
sary to  notify  the  guerilla  leaders  that,  if  they 
did  not  at  once  submit,  all  Boers  still  bearing 
arms  would  be  "  banished  for  ever  from  South 
Africa  " — to  which  De  Wet  had  stoutly  replied 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        273 

that  "  I  and  my  officers  assure  your  Excellency 
that  we  fight  with  one  aim  only — our  inde- 
pendence, which  we  never  can  or  will  sacrifice." 
But  the  end  was  now  at  hand.  An  interesting 
episode  was  the  capture  by  Ross's  Canadian 
Scouts  of  De  Wet's  "  arsenal "  and  store- 
house in  a  sequestered  cave.  "  Half-way 
down  a  precipitous  zrantz^'^  says  Sir  A.  Conan 
Doyle,  "  with  its  mouth  covered  by  creepers, 
no  writer  of  romance  could  have  imagined  a 
more  fitting  head-quarters  for  a  guerilla  chief." 

A  period  of  negotiation  occupied  the  spring 
of  1902,  and  in  June  the  remnants  of  the  vari- 
ous commandos  finally  laid  down  their  arms. 
In  one  "  drive  "  by  Sir  John  French  he  disposed 
of  292  Boers  killed  and  wounded,  500  prisoners, 
three  guns  and  a  Maxim  taken,  600  rifles, 
4000  horses,  4500  trek  oxen,  1300  carts  and 
waggons,  24,000  cattle,  and  165,000  sheep. 
"  The  whole  expanse  of  the  eastern  veldt  was 
dotted  with  the  broken  and  charred  waggons 
of  the  enemy." 

Generals  De  Wet,  Louis  Botha,  and  Delarey 
were  admittedly  the  three  great  soldiers  on 
the  losing  side  produced  by  the  revolt  of  the 
two  South  African  Republics  ;    the  brightest 

feather    in    the    cap    of   the    last-named    un- 

s 


274  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

questionably  being  his  startling  capture  of 
General  (now  Field-Marshal)  Lord  Methuen 
in  the  very  last  weeks  of  the  war.  In  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  struggle  Delarey  had  been 
associated  with  Cronje,  and  it  is  probable  that 
if  his  advice  had  been  followed  there  would 
have  been  no  surrender  at  Paardeberg,  for 
Delarey,  in  common  with  De  Wet,  possessed 
a  real  genivis  for  war.  On  July  11th,  1900, 
during  Lord  Roberts'  halt  at  Pretoria,  the 
wily  Boer  brought  off  a  daring  coup  at  the 
exposed  position  of  Uitval's  Nek,  only  eighteen 
miles  from  the  capital,  when  the  British  had 
to  mourn  nearly  300  in  killed  and  prisoners 
and  two  guns.  On  the  last  day  of  August 
he  inflicted  a  loss  of  sixty  casualties  upon 
another  detachment  near  Quaggafontein.  Much 
later  in  the  year,  during  the  prolonged 
irregular  operations  in  the  Transvaal,  the 
indefatigable  Delarey  fell  upon  and  captured 
or  plundered  a  valuable  convoy  of  120  waggons 
which  was  proceeding  from  Pretoria  to  Rusten- 
burg.  This  provided  him  with  a  huge  supply 
of  badly-needed  stores  of  all  descriptions. 

Shortly  after,  being  joined  by  a  commando 
under  Beyers,  he  struck  at  a  force  of  1500 
British    which   lay    at   Nooitgedacht    in    the 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        275 

Magaliesburg  Range.     General  Clements  was 
in  command,   and  the  look-out  kept  by  his 
people   was   decidedly   not   of   the   best.      At 
dawn   ("  the   horn*  of   fate   in   South   African 
warfare ")     of     December     13th,     1900,     the 
burghers  rushed  our  advanced  posts.     They 
were   in   great   force,    and   so   close   was   the 
fighting  that  while  the  heliograph  was  being 
worked  to  call  up  help  the  soldier  in  charge 
of  it  was  hurled  over  the  cliff.    The  pet  monkey 
of  the  Yeomanry  was  hit  by  three  bullets,  but 
nevertheless    survived    as    a    "  battle-scarred 
veteran."      Practically    every    man    on    the 
"  berg "    or    hill,    a     thousand    yards    from 
Clements'  head-quarters,  was  shot  down.    So 
severe  was  the  firing  on  the  wounded,   that 
with   the   help   of   their   own   blood   the   poor 
fellows   rigged   up   a  red   hospital   flag.     For 
hours,    we    are    told,    250    brave    men    stood 
between  Clements  and  sheer  disaster.     Even- 
tually  their   General's   bravery   and   personal 
example  extricated  the  command  and  secured 
its  retreat  on  Reitfontein  without  any  loss  of 
artillery.      But    the    casualties    were    terribly 
heavy — 60  killed,  180  wounded,  and  315  taken, 
as  well  as  the  whole  camp  and  400  horses.     It 
may  be  imagined  how  much  appreciated  the 


276  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

latter  were  by  the  Boers.  It  was  a  splendid 
victory  for  Delarey,  even  if  he  also  lost  heavily. 
A  dangerous  and  annoying  phase  of  these 
irregular  operations  may  here  be  referred  to. 
Hardly  a  day  elapsed,  we  learn,  that  "  the 
line  was  not  cut  at  some  point.  The  bringing 
of  supplies  was  complicated,  by  the  fact  that  the 
Boer  women  and  children  were  coming  more 
and  more  into  refugee  camps,  where  they  had 
to  be  fed  by  the  British,  and  the  strange 
spectacle  was  frequently  seen  of  Boer  '  snipers ' 
killing  or  wounding  the  drivers  and  stokers  of 
the  very  trains  which  were  bringing  up  food 
upon  which  Boer  families  were  dependent  for 
their  lives.  Considering  that  these  tactics  were 
continued  for  over  a  year,  and  that  they 
resulted  in  the  death  or  mutilation  of  many 
hundreds  of  our  officers  and  men,  it  is  really 
inexplicable  that  the  British  authorities  did 
not  employ  the  means  used  by  all  armies 
under  such  circumstances — which  is  to  place 
hostages  upon  the  trains.  A  truck-load  behind 
every  engine  would  have  stopped  the  practice 
for  ever.  Again  and  again  in  this  war  the 
British  fought  with  the  gloves  when  their 
opponents  used  their  knuckles."  ^ 

1  Doyle,  Great  Boer  War,  p.  404. 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        277 

At  the  beginning  of  1902,  the  ubiquitous 
and  persevering  Lord  Methuen  penetrated  as 
far  as  Vryburg  in  a  wide-sweeping  and  cleverly 
calculated  attempt  finally  to  cut  off  the  mobile 
but  depleted  commando  of  Delarey.  In  the 
vicinity  we  had  lost  a  small  number  of  our 
Yeomanry,  but  on  February  4th  Methuen 
retaliated  by  a  surprise  attack  in  which,  while 
Delarey  himself  escaped,  Commandant  Alberts 
and  132  Boers  were  made  prisoners.  But  the 
guerilla  chief  was  determined  at  once  to 
signalise  his  escape  and  to  "  get  even  " — and 
it  must  be  owned  that  he  did  so  in  a  sufficiently 
sensational  fashion.  This  is  how  he  ac- 
complished it  : 

A  convoy  of  130  waggons  was  en  route  from 
Wolmaranstad  to  Klcrksdorp,  a  distance  of 
fifty  miles,  the  escort  under  Colonel  Anderson 
consisting  of  some  600  men  of  the  North- 
umberland Fusiliers,  Imperial  Yeomanry  and 
Paget's  Horse,  with  two  guns  and  a  pom- 
pom. Complete  security  seemed  to  reign  every- 
where, and  so  close  to  its  destination  was  our 
force  when  Delarey  fired  his  bolt  from  the  blue, 
that  Klerksdorp  was  actually  in  sight.  The 
night  of  February  24th  had  been  rough  and 
rainy,    however,    and    under    cover    of    such 


278  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

conditions  it  was  no  difficult  matter  for  the 
"  slim "  burghers  to  creep  up  and  conceal 
themselves  between  the  slumbering  convoy 
and  its  goal.  At  the  dawn  the  white-tilted, 
lumbering  waggons  were  well  on  their  way 
when  a  flame  of  fire  burst  out  from  the  scrub 
bordering  the  road.  In  an  instant  all  was 
confusion.  At  first  Colonel  Anderson  hoped 
that  he  might  at  least  succeed  in  securing  the 
safety  of  the  convoy  ;  but  it  turned  out  that 
Delarey  had  rallied  to  the  onslaught  nearly 
2000  men,  whose  terrific  volleys  soon  stam- 
peded the  mules.  Worse  than  all,  the  carts 
got  crowded  together  into  a  particularly  diffi- 
cult ravine  or  "  spruit,"  the  Jagd  Spruit,  so 
that  utter  chaos  prevailed.  Yet  the  resistance 
of  the  ambuscaded  column  was  of  a  most 
heroic  description,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  of  176  men  and  11 
officers.  The  remainder  were  compelled  to 
surrender,  and  the  two  guns  were  of  course 
sacrificed.  The  Boers  are  known  to  have 
suffered  some  fifty  casualties.  They  speedily 
let  their  prisoners  loose  as  usual,  because  they 
could  not  maintain  them,  and  they  shot  the 
teams  and  burned  the  waggons.  Delarey,  who 
was  always  a  conspicuous  example  to  the  other 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        279 

Boer  leaders  for  his  great  humanity,  treated 
our  wounded  with  the  utmost  kindness.  He 
got  clear  away  before  pursuit  could  touch  him 
— but  only  to  prepare  another  and  more 
dazzling  coup. 

Lord  Methuen,  ordered  up  from  Vryburg  to 
co-operate  with  Colonel  Grenfell  in  an  attempt 
to  re-take  these  two  guns  and,  incidentally, 
deal  Delarey  a  staggering  blow,  moved  on 
March  2nd  with  the  following  very  mixed 
force,  of  which  Sir  A.  Conan  Doyle  has  unkindly 
recorded  that  "  such  a  collection  of  samples 
would  be  more  in  place  in  a  London  procession 
than  in  an  operation  which  called  for  discipline 
and  cohesion  "  : 
200    Northumberland     233    Cape    Mounted 

Fusiliers  Police 

100  Loyal  North  110    86th    Imperial 

Lancashires  Yeomanry 

184    5th    Imperial  92    Diamond    Fields 

Yeomanry  Horse 

64  Cullinan's  Horse  58  Dennison's  Scouts 

126    Ashburne's  24  British  South  Africa 

Horse  Police 

Two  guns,  4th  R.F.A.     Two  guns,  38th  R.F.  A. 

Several    of   these   units    were,    indeed,    ex- 
cessively raw  and  inexperienced  soldiers.   Such 


280  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

as  they  were,  however,  and  with  a  convoy  in 
charge,  Lord  Methuen  was  leading  this  column 
towards  Lichtenburg  on  March  6th.  At  dawn 
of  the  7th  they  were  at  or  near  Tweebosch. 
Here  they  were  attacked  in  force,  and  the 
greater  part  of  Methuen's  irregular  horsemen 
put  spurs  to  their  steeds  and  fled  without 
firing  a  shot — ^the  scene  has,  in  fact,  been 
likened  to  a  South  African  "  Battle  of  the 
Spurs."  The  nerve  of  these  cowardly  cava- 
liers appears  to  have  been  entirely  broken  by 
the  apparition  of  a  cloud  of  determined 
burghers  charging  them  in  five  lines.  Their 
defection  unfortunately  uncovered  the  two 
guns  of  the  38th  Battery,  every  one  of  whose 
gunners  and  officers  was  killed  or  wounded. 
It  was  a  pathetic  sight  to  see  the  gallant 
Methuen  personally  trying  to  arrest  these 
pitiful  fugitives,  who  did  not  draw  rein  till 
they  got  to  Kraaipan,  some  miles  away.  There 
remained  the  two  other  guns  and  the  infantry, 
who  held  out  heroically  for  several  hours.  To 
make  matters  worse,  a  bullet  smashed  Lord 
Methuen's  thigh-bone,  and  by  the  time  the 
white  flag  was  hung  out — the  Boers  having 
meanwhile  brought  some  heavy  artillery  into 
action — the   column   had   lost   68   killed   and 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        281 

121  wounded.  There  were  205  unwounded 
prisoners,  with  of  course  the  guns  and  convoy. 
If  this  victory  had  been  won  at  the  opening 
instead  of  the  close  of  the  struggle,  it  would 
have  heartened  the  Boer  resistance  very  ap- 
preciably. 

The  "  incident "  fell  heavily  upon  Lord 
Methuen  after  his  long  months  of  arduous 
but  on  the  whole  successful  campaigning.  His 
wound  was  necessarily  of  a  painful  character, 
but  it  is  good  to  know  that  he  received  the 
most  chivalrous  treatment  at  the  hands  of 
General  Delarey,  who  speedily  sent  him  and 
his  doctor  into  our  lines.  Methuen's  own  men, 
by  whom  he  was  beloved,  were  infuriated  at 
the  cowardly  behaviour  of  the  composite  force 
that  had  left  their  General  "  in  the  lurch." 
Still,  it  would  be  idle  to  detract  from  the 
spirit  and  gallantry  displayed  by  the  enemy 
in  this  affair.  It  might  have  been  worse,  for 
on  one  occasion  Lord  Kitchener  himself  was 
nearly  captured  in  a  train  which  passed 
through  the  Boer  lines. 

For  the  brave  and  audacious  Delarey,  how- 
ever, the  end  of  all  things  was  at  hand.  Lord 
Kitchener  placed  his  Chief-of-the-Staff,  Sir 
Ian   Hamilton,    in   general   command   of   the 


282  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

operations  for  his  final  discomfiture,  sup- 
ported by  other  columns  under  Generals 
Rawlinson,  Kekewich,  and  Walter  Kitchener, 
the  whole  "  drive "  covering  an  enormous 
frontage.  In  one  movement  by  Hamilton 
along  the  line  of  the  Mafekins;  Railwav  as  manv 
as  364  prisoners  were  gathered  in,  and  lesser 
captures  were  effected  almost  every  day.  The 
guerillas  were  literally  starving.  Delarey's 
last  hostile  effort  on  a  scale  of  any  importance 
took  place  on  April  11th  at  Rooiwal,  where 
fifteen  hundred  Boers  made  a  magnificent  but 
hopeless  charge  against  Kekewich's  command. 
Some  of  them  actually  got  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  our  alignment,  their  saddles  emptying 
all  the  time  and  the  saturnine  Commandant 
Potgieter  being  killed  when  close  up  to  our 
guns.  In  the  stampede  which  followed,  the 
foe  were  pursued  for  twenty  miles.  Presently 
General  Delarey  left  the  "  army  "  in  order  to 
take  part  in  the  historic  peace  negotiations 
which  terminated  a  bloodv  and  relentless 
struggle  of  wellnigh  three  years'  duration — 
the  last  eighteen  months  of  which  had  been 
almost  wholly  concerned  with  the  tactics  of 
guerilla  warfare. 

And  now  a  further  word  as  to  the  *'Con- 


DE    WET    AND    DELAREY        283 

centration  Camps  ' '  of  the  South  African  war  in 
their  relation  to  the  grim  business  of  partisan 
fighting.  Most  of  the  Boer  leaders  have  ex- 
pressed themselves  in  terms  of  the  utmost 
detestation  concerning  the  "  herding  together," 
as  they  called  it,  of  their  wives  and  little 
children  in  these  camps.  But  there  is  another 
aspect  of  the  question,  and  I  venture  to  quote 
a  few  words  from  Dr.  Miller  Maguire  on  this 
vital  point  :  "  If  it  once  gets  out  to  the  world 
at  large  that  guerillas  or  irregulars  will  be 
treated  like  the  guerillas  and  irregulars  in 
South  Africa  were  treated,  there  will  be  plenty 
of  guerillas  and  irregulars  in  every  future  war. 
It  will  be  the  most  prosperous  career  possible. 
I  would  turn  guerilla  myself  to-morrow  if  I 
had  a  chance  to  go  and  be  treated  as  they  were 
treated.  You  fight  and  enjoy  yourself  as  long 
as  you  can,  and  in  the  meantime  what  is  your 
wife  doing  ?  Crying  ?  Turned  out  into  the 
forest  like  the  French  women  were  turned  out, 
or  denuded  of  her  property  like  the  Vendean 
women,  and  the  children  in  a  most  pitiable 
condition  ?  Is  that  the  way  the  Boer  women 
were  treated  ?  Not  at  all.  Most  of  our  wives 
would  have  been  far  better  off  in  Africa  than 
they  ever  were  before.    I  say,  if  it  only  comes 


284  GUERILLA    LEADERS 

to  be  generally  known  that  guerillas  will  be 
treated  as  we  treated  the  guerillas  in  South 
Africa,  soldiers  will  begin  with  guerilla  warfare 
instead  of  ending  with  it." 

I  may  close  with  the  closing  words  of 
General  De  Wet's  fascinating  book,  because 
that  great  soldier  expresses  himself  in  terms 
of  dignity,  wisdom,  and  understanding  : 

"  To  my  Nation  I  address  one  last  word. 

"  Be  loyal  to  the  new  Government.  Loyalty 
pays  best  in  the  end.  Loyalty  alone  is  worthy 
of  a  Nation  which  has  shed  its  blood  for 
Freedom." 


THE    END 


INDEX 


Abd-el-Kadcr,  104  ;  his  birth 
and  parentage,  105  ;  his 
genius  for  war,  106  ; 
brilliant  victory  of,  at 
Makta,  108  ;  preaches  a 
holy  war,  110;  his  audi- 
ence with  Marshal Bugeavid, 
112  ;  his  personality  de- 
scribed, 115;  capture  of 
his  smala,  116-18;  flight 
into  Morocco,  119;  price 
set  on  his  head,  121  ; 
svirrender  of,  122  ;  dies  at 
Damascus,    123 

Alberts,  Commandant,  Boer 
General,  277 

Alexander  II,  Tsar  of  Russia, 
his  honourable  treatment 
of   Abd-el-Kader,    135 

Algiers,  104  ;  siege  and 
capture  of,   105 

Alison,  Sir  A.,  historian,  73, 
78 

Amende,  Prussian  General, 
72 

•'  Anjou,  the  Saint  of."  See 
Cathelineau 

Ashby,  General  Turner,  death 
and  character  of,   210-11 

Aspern-Essling,  defeat  of  the 
Grand  Army  at,  59 

Aspromonte,  Garibaldi's  de- 
feat at,  166-6 


Aul-Himry,      birthplace      of 
Schamyl,  125 


B 

"  Bad  Lands  "  of  the  Yellow- 
stone River,  the,  236-8 

Baird-Douglas,  Col.,  heroic 
death  of,  259 

Bariatinsky,  Prince,  takes 
command  in  Daghestan, 
134  ;  receives  surrender  of 
Schamyl,  135 

Bazaine,  Marshal,  217,  218 

Beresford,  Colonel,  de  la 
Poer,  picturesque  descrip- 
tion of  Caucasia  by,  126-8 

"  Black  Brvmswickers,"  the, 
70,  72 

Bolivar,  Simon,  birth  and 
parentage,  81  ;  visits  to  the 
United  States  and  England, 
82  ;  attempt  to  assassinate 
him,  83  ;  amusing  descrip- 
tion of,  85-6  ;  he  assumes 
the  offensive,  86  ;  crossing 
of  the  Andes  by,  87  ;  he 
defeats  General  Barreiro  at 
Boyac^a,  89  ;  enters  Bogota, 
90  ;  his  stirring  address  to 
the  army,  91  ;  difficulties 
of  his  rule,  96  ;  disappoint- 
ment of  his  later  years,  97 

Botha,  General  Louis,  273 


285 


286 


GUERILLA  LEADERS 


Bothaville,  the  Boer  opera- 
tions near,   272 

Bragg,  General  Braxton,  con- 
fers with  Morgan,  183-4  ; 
his  violent  quarrel  with 
General  Forrest,   203-5 

Brittany,  the  hostile  opera- 
tions in,   18-35 

Brunswick,  Charles  William 
Ferdinand,  Duke  of,  68  ; 
death  of,  69 

Brunswick,  FrederickWilliam, 
Duke  of,  67  ;  vows  venge- 
ance against  Napoleon,  69  ; 
raises  a  corps  of  hussars, 
70  ;  defeats  the  French  and 
Saxons,  72  ;  proclamation 
of,  to  the  German  people, 
73  ;  personality  of,  73,  74  ; 
his  heroic  death  at  Quatre 
Bras,  74,  75 

Bugeaud,  Marshal,  arrives  in 
Algeria,  111  ;  his  career  as 
a  soldier,  113;  amusing 
anecdote  of,  113 ;  made 
Governor  -  General  of 

Algeria,  114;  his  ulti- 
matum to  Morocco,  119  ; 
famous  victory  of,  at  Isly, 
120 ;  formation  of  his 
army,  121 


Cadoudal,  Georges,  executed 
for  plot  against  Bonaparte, 
33 

Callwell,  Major,  his  exposi- 
tion of  guerilla  tactics,  16  ; 
describes  Abd-el-Kader's 
defeat,  118  ;  describes 
Indian  camel  corps,  142  ; 
and  Redskin  tactics,  238- 
40  ;  on  outpost  difficulties, 
264 


Caracas,  birthplace  of  Bolivar, 
81  ;  destroyed  by  earth- 
quake, 83 

Cathelineau,  Jacques  ("  the 
Saint  of  Anjou  "),  death  of, 
20  ;  storming  of  Nantes  by, 
21 

Charette,  Francois,  18 ;  his 
gallantry  at  Nantes,  21  ; 
departs  for  the  interior,  29  ; 
his  despair,  39  ;  execution 
of,  at  Nantes,  40 ;  Napo- 
leon's opinion  of,  40 ;  his 
romantic  career,  41 

Charles  Albert,  King  of 
Sardinia,  157 

Chasteler,  Field-Marshal  Von, 
assumes  command  in  the 
Tyrol,  57  ;  outlawed  by 
Napoleon,  58  ;  is  defeated 
at  Worgl,  59 

Chili,  the  liberation  of,  94 

Chouans,  the,  description  of, 
33 

Clausel,  Marshal,  105 ;  fails 
to  make  headway  against 
Abd-el-Kader,  106 ;  re- 
called to  France,  107 

Cochrane,  Lord,  98 ;  his 
association  with  General 
Miller,  99 

Comomfort,  General,  murder 
of,  in  Mexico,  225 

Constantine,  City  of,  109 ; 
remarkable  history  of,  109  ; 
siege  and  storming  of,  110 

Cordillera,  the  Great,  descrip- 
tion of,  87 

Cottereau,  Jean,  18 ;  killed 
in  a  skirmish,   19 

Crazy  Horse,  Redskin  chief, 
234  ;  defeats  General  Crook, 
235 

Crispi,  Signor,  as  a  young 
man,  159 


INDEX 


287 


Cust,  Sir  Edward,  quoted,  80 
Custer,  General,  234 ;  de- 
scription of,  235  ;  he 
locates  Sitting  Bull,  236  ; 
curious  presentiment  of, 
237  ;  his  command  de- 
stroyed, 237;  their  probable 
fate,  239-40 

D 

d'Artois,  the  Comte,  34 
d'Aumale,  Due,  son  of  Louis 
Philippe,  his  brilliant 
capture  of  Abd-el-Kader's 
Smala,  116-18;  receives 
the  surrender  of  Abd-el- 
Kader,  112 
d'Hervilly,  the  Comte,  34,  35 
Delarey,  General,  257  ; 
captures  a  great  convoy, 
274  ;  his  brilliant  defeat  of  | 
General  Clements,  275  ; 
attacked  by  Methuen,  277  ; 
overwhelms  another  con- 
voy, 278  ;  his  grand  coup 
against  Lord  Methuen, 
280  ;  and  chivalrous  treat- 
ment of  the  latter,  281  ; 
he  quits  the  army,  282 
De  Wet,  General  Christiaan, 
257  ;  objects  to  be  termed 
a  "  guerilla,"  257-8  ;  his 
commando  crosses  the  Vaal, 
259  ;  description  of ,  260-1  ; 
destroys  a  train,  261  ; 
failures  to  capture  him, 
262-3  ;  captures  Dewets- 
dorp,  265  ;  his  personal 
appearance,  266  ;  escapes 
again,  267  ;  recrosses  the 
Orange  River,  269  ;  victory 
of,  at  Tweefontein,  271  ; 
his  last  big  adventure,  271  ; 
enters  the  Transvaal,  272  ; 


his  "  arsenal  "  described, 
273 ;  his  advice  to  the 
Boers,  284 

Dewetsdorp,  capture  of,  by 
De  Wet,  265 

Diaz,  Colonel  Felix,  brother 
to  Porfirio  Diaz,  216 

Diaz,  Porfirio,  the  Mexican 
guerilla,  212  ;  victory  of, 
at  Puebla,  216 ;  refuses 
supreme  command  of 
Republican  army,  217  ; 
capitulates  to  Bazaine, 
218  ;  his  escape  from  the 
Company  Convent,  218- 
20  ;  efforts  to  induce  him 
to  desert,  221  ;  non-com- 
plicity of,  in  Maximilian's 
execution,  223 ;  his  ac- 
count of  General  Comom- 
fort's  death,  224 ;  re- 
elected President  of  Mexico, 
225  ;  his  character  and 
attainments,  226 ;  his 
deposition,   226 

Dol,  Bishop  of,  put  to  death 
by  Hoche,  38 

Donelson,  Fort,  the  siege  and 
capitulation  of,  196-7  ; 
General  Forrest's  refusal 
to  surrender  at,  198 

Doyle,  Sir  A.  Conan,  quoted, 
263,  273,  279,  343 


E 


Ecuador,  Republic  of,  pro- 
claimed, 90 ;  included  in 
Republic   of   Colombia,    96 

Egyptian  Sudan,  the,  warlike 
operations  in  the,  241  et  seq. 

Egyptian  army,  cowardly 
behaviour  of  the,  in  op- 
posing Osman  Digna,  244-5 


288 


GUERILLA  LEADERS 


English,  General,  a  Peninsular 

veteran,   84 
*'  English    Legion,"    the,    in 

South  American  war,  90 


F 


Forrest,  General  N.  B.,  195  ;  I 
his    peculiar    genius,    196  ;  ' 
picturesque  account  of,  by  j 
his    biographer,    197  ;     his 
brilliant        initiative        at  • 
Murfreesboro',    199  ;    Lord 
Wolseley's  opinion  of,  200  ;  ; 
the  romantic  strain  in  his 
temperament,  201  ;    at  the 
battle      of      Chickamauga,   , 
202  ;  quarrels  with  General   ; 
Bragg,  203-5  ;  massacre  at  i 
Fort     Pillow,     206  ;      sur-   ; 
render  of,  208  ;    death  and 
character,  209-10 

Forsyth,  Colonel  George  A., 
a  Civil  War  hero,  229  ; 
ordered  to  act  against  the 
Indians,  229  ;  his  camp 
attacked,  230 ;  is  twice 
wounded,  231  ;  a  nine 
days'  siege,  231  ;  is  re- 
lieved by  Carpenter,  232 

Fra  Diavolo,  1 1 

Francatripa,  a  brigand  chief- 
tain, 11 

French,  General  Sir  John, 
his  victories  in  South 
Africa,   273 


G 

"  Gall,"  a  Sioux  chieftain, 
233 

Garibaldi,  Guiseppe,  born  at 
Nice,  155  ;  his  adventures 
in    South    America,     156 ; 


death  of  his  wife,  157  ; 
arrest  of,  by  the  Sardinian 
Government,  157  ;  lands 
at  Marsala,  158  ;  triumphal 
entry  of  into  Palermo, 
159 ;      and     into     Naples, 

160  ;   pleasing  anecdote  of, 

161  ;  is  received  by  Victor 
Emmanuel,  162,  163  ;  per- 
sonality of  described,  164  ; 
attempt  upon  Rome,  165  ;  is 
twice  wounded,  166  ;  enrols 
30,000  volunteers,  167  ;  de- 
feated by  the  Papal  forces, 
169  ;  services  of,  with 
Franco-German  War,  170- 
2  ;  death  of,  172 

Garibaldi,  the  two  sons  of, 
169 

Gedid,  battle  of,  255 

Grabbe,  General,  successes  of, 
in  the  Caucasus,  129  ;  his 
camp  attacked  at  night, 
133 

Graham,  General  Sir  Gerald, 
twice  defeats  Osman  Digna, 
245-9 

Guerilla  spirit,  the,  9-17 

Gwalior,  fortress  of,  descrip- 
tion of,  by  the  Hon.  Lewis 
Wingfield,  145 

H 

Hamilton,  Sir  Ian,  Kit- 
chener's Chief-of-the-Staff, 
281 

Haspinger,  Joachim,  a  Capu- 
chin priest,  47  ;  his  devo- 
tion to  the  Tyrolean  cause, 
59 

Hicks  Pasha,  the  disastrous 
defeat  of,  241 

Hoche,  General,  assumes  com- 
mand in  La  Vend6e,   30  ; 


INDEX 


289 


his  plan  of  operations  sum- 
marised, 31  ;  plenary 
powers  conferred  on,  35  ; 
his  infamies  in  Brittany, 
37,  38 
Hofer,  Andreas,  47  ;  pic- 
turesque description  of,  48 ; 
his  speech  to  the  peasants, 
49  ;  his  defeat  of  Marshal 
Wrede,  51  ;  clever  ruse  of, 
53  ;  his  heroic  rescue  of 
Count  Leiningen,  58  ;  his 
bitter  grief  at  abandon- 
ment of  the  Tyrol,  63;  be- 
trayal and  execution  of,  at 
Mantua,  65 
"  Hump,"  a  Sioux  chief,  233 
Hunter,  General  Sir  A.,  sur- 
rounds and  captures  Com- 
mandant Prinsloo,  259 


Inn,  the  River,  49 

Innsbriick,  successive  cap- 
tures of,  49,  51,  54 

Irish  Legion,  the,  in  war  of 
South  American  independ- 
ence, 84 

Isly,  the  great  battle  of, 
120,   121 

Ixion,  Colonel  Mosby's  refer- 
ence to,  176 


Jackson,   General  Stonewall, 

177,  211 
Jagd  Spruit,  the,  278 
Jeypur,  tlie  Rajput  State  of, 

149 
Jhansi,  the  notorious  Ranee 

of,     139  ;     her    association 

with  Tantia  Topee,  140-2 
Joinville,   Prince  de,  son  of 


Louis  Philippe,  112  ;  naval 
operations  of,  off  Moroccan 
coast,  119  ;  bombards  Tan- 
gier, 119 

Juarez,  Benito,  212  ;  he  is 
accepted  as  President  of 
Mexico,  213  ;  his  flight 
from  the  capital,  217 

"  Juarists,"  or  followers  of 
Juarez,    212-17 

Jumna,  the  River,  144 

Junin,  defeat  of  the  Spaniards 
at,  100 

K 

Kalpi,  the  battle  of,  142,  143 
Kaluga,  Schamyl  interned  at, 

135 
Kazar  tribe,  the  wild,  127 
Kekewich,  General,  282 
Khalifa,  death  of  the,  255 
Kitchener,     Lord,     270 ;    his 
notification  to  De  Wet,  272 
Kitchener,    General    Walter, 
Lord   Kitchener's  brother, 
282 
Kleber,       French       Revolu- 
tionary General,  operations 
of,  in  La  Vendee,  25,  26 
Klerksdorp,     the    battle    of, 

277,  278 
Knox,  General  Charles,  268 
Klraaipan,  cowardly  conduct 

of  the  Yeomanry  at,  280 
Kritzinger,  the  Boer  General, 
268 


La  Rochejaquelein,  Henri, 
Marquis  de,  18  ;  birth  and 
parentage,  1 9 ;  accepts 
command  of  the  Chouans, 
20 ;  joins  de  Lescure,  23 ; 
advises  retreat  into   Brit- 


290 


GUERILLA  LEADERS 


tany,  27  ;  his  heroic  death 
and  character,  29,  30 

La  Rochejaquelein,  Marquise 
de,  fortitude  of,  in  her 
husband's  cause,  26,  27 

La  Rochejaquelein,  Louis, 
Marquis  de,  emulates  his 
brother  in  La  Vendue,  41  ; 
sketch  of  his  career,  42  ; 
fights  disastrous  battle,  43 

La  Vendue,  the  civil  war  in, 
18-44 

Le  Gallais,  the  heroic  Colonel, 
mortally  wounded  at 
Bothaville,  264 

Lee,  General  R.  E.,  Con- 
federate Commander-in- 
Chief,  174-6 

Lefebvre,  Marshal,  takes  com- 
mand in  the  Tyrol,  59  ; 
enters  Innsbriick,  60  ;  sig- 
nal defeat  of,  by  Hofer, 
62 

Leiningen,  Count,  narrow  es- 
cape of,  58 

Lincoln,  President,  amusing 
anecdote  of,  178,  179 

Little  Big  Horn,  the  affair  of 
the,  238-40 

Little  Missouri  River,  the, 
236 

London,  the  Convention  of, 
214 

M 

Maguire,    Dr.    Miller,    quoted, 

283 
Mahdi,  the,  241,  255 
Mass6na,   Marshal,    155 
Maximihan,  the  Emperor,  ac- 
cepts the  Mexican  throne, 
215,   217  ;    is   deserted  by 
Napoleon  III,  222  ;   execu- 
tion of,  223,  224 


Meglia,  Monsignor,  the  Papa 
Nuncio,  223 

Methuen,  Field-Marshal  Lord, 
capture  of,  by  Delarey, 
274  ;  the  ruse  described, 
277  ;  his  "  mixed  force," 
279 ;  his  personal  gallantry, 
280-1 

Mexico,  the  hostile  operations 
in,  212-25 

Miller,  General  William,  lands 
in  South  America,  98  ; 
terribly  wounded  at  Pisco, 

99  ;  his  brave  conduct  at 
Ayacucho,  100  ;  appointed 
chief-of-staff     to     Bolivar, 

100  ;  receives  freedom  of 
Canterbury,  101  ;  inter- 
esting anecdote  of,  102  ; 
his  death  at  Callao,   103 

Mina,  the  Spanish  guerilla, 
heroic  conduct  of,  13 

Moore,  Sir  John,  General, 
defeated  in  Spain,  45 

Morgan,  General  John  H,, 
his  genius  for  war,  181 
leads  his  "  Rough  Riders  " 
into  Kentucky,  183  ;  con- 
fers with  General  Bragg, 
184  ;  composition  of  his 
command,  185  ;  progress 
of  the  raid,  186,  187  ; 
crosses  the  Ohio,  188  ; 
humorous  account  of  the 
operations,  189-91  ;  hem- 
med in  at  Buffington, 
192  ;  surrender  of,  193  ; 
killed  in  the  battle  of 
Knoxville,  194 ;  Colonel 
Henderson's  tribute  to,  194 

Morillo,  General,  defeats 
Bolivar,  83  ;  the  would-be 
assassin  of  the  Liberator, 
89 

Mosby,    Colonel    John   S.,    a 


INDEX 


291 


survivor  of  the  Confeder- 
acy, 174  ;  his  defence  of 
General  Stuart,  174,  175  ; 
eulogy  of,  by  General  Lee, 
175  ;  and  by  Stuart,  176  ; 
his  own  account  of  the  cap- 
ture of  General  Stoughton, 
176,  177  ;  operations  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  178-9  ; 
commands  remnant  of  Con- 
federate forces,  180  ;  Grant 
and  Sheridan's  opinion  of, 
181 
"  Mountain  Rangers,"  the, 
211 

N 

Nana  Sahib,  the,  138-9 

Napier,  Colonel  Robert,  148  ; 
operations  of,  in  Central 
India,  149 

Napoleon,  the  Emperor,  at 
St.  Helena,  40  ;  endeavours 
to  influence  La  Roche- 
jaquelein,  42-3  ;  declares 
Chastelar  an  outlaw,  58  ; 
his  barbarous  treatment  of 
Brunswick,  69  ;  and  of 
Schill's  officers,  78 

Napoleon  III,  Emperor, 
grants  a  pension  to  Abd- 
el-Kader,  122  ;  shows  him 
great  favour,   123 

Ney,  Marshal,  attempts  to 
invade  the  Tyrol,  46 

Nicholas,  Tsar  of  Russia, 
visits  the  Caucasus,   128 


O 

Oaxaca,  bkthplace  of  Presi- 
dent Juarez,  213  ;  sur- 
render of,  to  Diaz,  221 

O'Connor,    General    Francis, 


brother  of  Fergus  O'Connor, 
94 
O'Leary,    Colonel,    Secretary 

to  Bolivar,  85 
Olivier,  the  escape  of  General, 

259 
Omar  Or,  the  Sheik,  betrays 

Osman  Digna,  255 
"  One  Thousand,"  march  of 
the,    158-60 

j  Oran,    Abd-el-Kader    elected 

I       Emir  of,  105 

j  Orsini,  Colonel,   159 

I  Osman  Digna,  a  notorious 
slave-trader,  241  ;  concen- 
trates his  forces,  243  ;  de- 
stroys Baker's  command, 
244-5  ;  massacre  by,  at 
Sinkat,  245  ;  defeat  of,  by 
Sir  G.  Graham,  246  ;  again 
defeated  by  Graham,  247- 
9  ;  desperate  attempt  by, 
on  McNeill's  zereba,  249- 
51  ;  opinions  on  the  battle, 
253-4  ;  present  at  Omdur- 
man,  255  ;  capture  and 
descent  of,  255-6, 
Oudh,  retreat  of  Nana  Sahib 

into,    139 
Oudinot,  General,  defeated  at 
Rome,  157 


Paardeberg,  capture  of  Cronje 

at,   272 
Palermo,  entry  of,  by  Gari- 
baldi, 159  ;    evacuation  of, 
160 
Palestrina,  battle  of,   157 
Penthievre,  Fort,  betrayal  of, 

to  Hoche,  37 
Pillow,  Fort,  the  affair  at,  209 
Pius  IX,   Pope,  deserted  by 
the  French   Emperor,    166 


292 


GUERILLA  LEADERS 


Prinsloo,  Boer  General,  sur- 
render of,  to  Sir  A.  Hunter, 
259 

Puisaye,  a  Breton  leader,  32 


Q 

Quaggafontein,  the  battle  of, 

274 
Quebec,        compared       with 

Schamyl's      fortress,      135 
Quemada,  retirement  of  the 

Spanish  to,   89 
Quiberon,  Bay  of,  landing  of 

Warren's  fleet  in,  35 


R 

Ranee  of  Tehree,  the,  140 

Roman  Nose,  a  Sioux  chief, 
229  ;  he  attempts  to  rush 
Forsyth's  camp,  230 ;  is 
killed  in  a  charge,  231  ;  a 
magnificent  specimen  of 
manhood,    232 

Rose,  General  Sir  Hugh, 
moves  against  Jhansi,  139  ; 
great  victory  of,  141  ; 
general  order  to  his  army, 
143 ;  takes  leave  of  the 
troops,  148  ;  his  opinion  of 
Tantia  Topee,  153  ;  raised 
to  the  Peerage,   154 

"  Rough  Riders,"  operations 
of  the,  182-93.  See 
Morgan. 

"  Rurales,"  the,  Mexican 
military  police,  225 


S 

San  Martin,  General,  98 ;  his 
opinion  of  General  Miller, 
101 


Schamyl,  124  ;  comparison  of, 
with  Abd-el-Kader,  124  ; 
birth  and  parentage,  125  ; 
his  victories  over  the  Rus- 
sians, 128-30  ;  he  annihi- 
lates General  Grabbe's 
army,  130  ;  is  surrounded, 
131  ;  retires  into  Gunib, 
134 ;  surrender  of,  135  ; 
dies  at  Medina,  136 

Scharnhorst,  General,  dis- 
missal of,  71 

Schill,  Ferdinand  von,  67  ; 
proscribed  by  Napoleon, 
71  ;  equips  a  cavalry  corps, 

76  ;  invades  Westphalia 
and  is  mortally  wounded, 

77  ;  his  officers  shot  as 
bandits,  78  ;  death  and 
character  of,  79 

Schonbriinn,   the   Treaty   of, 

63 
Shangani  Patrol,  the,  237 
Sheridan,    General    Phil,    in 

American  Civil  War,   178  ; 

commanding    against    the 

Indians,    229 
Sitting  Bull,  Sioux  chief,  233  ; 

a  great  Medicine  Man,  234  ; 

his  village  located,  236  ;  his 

dramatic  defeat  of  General 

Custer,    237  ;    unsuccessful 

attempts  to  discover  him, 

238 
Soult,  Marshal,  his  threat  to 

Spanish   guerillas,    13 ;    he 

defeats    Sir    John    Moore, 

45  ;    his    high    opinion    of 

Abd-el-Kader,  115 
Speckbacher,  Joseph,  47  ;  his 

capture  of  Innsbriick,  54  ; 

attacks  General  Deroy,  60  ; 

learns  of  abandonment  of 

the  Tyrol,   63  ;  escapes  to 

Vienna,  66 


INDEX 


298 


Stofflet,   Nicolas,   defeat  and 

betrayal  of,  39  ;    executed 

at  Angers,  40 
Stuart,     General     Sir     John, 

victories  of,  in  Italy,  11 
Stuart,    General    J.    E.    B., 

174-6 
Sudan,  the  Egyptian,  241-56 
Suakim,    description    of    the 

port  of,  242 


T 


Tafna,  Treaty  of,  110;  its 
ineffectiveness,  112 

Tantia  Topee,  career  of,  137  ; 
joins  the  Ranee  of  Jhansi, 
139  ;  marches  to  relieve 
that  fortress,  140 ;  defeat 
and  flight  of,  141  ;  his  good 
strategy,  143  ;  plans  to  re- 
duce Gwalior,  144,  desper- 
ate resistance  of,  148  ;  his 
flight  into  Jeypvu",  149  ; 
attempts  to  enter  the  Dec- 
can,  151  ;  becomes  a  fugi- 
tive, 152  ;  capture  and 
execution  of,  153  ;  charac- 
ter and  atrocities  of,  153 

Tegethoff,  Admiral,  the  friend 
of  Maximilian,  215 

Teimer,  Martin,  a  Tyrolese 
patriot  leader,  49  ;  comes 
to  co-operate  with  Hofer, 
55 

Tyrol,  the  Austrian,  its 
chequered  history,  45,  46 


U 

Uitval's  Nek,  victory  of  the 

Boers  at,  274 
Union   Pacific   Railway,   the, 

228 


United    States    Government, 

the,  233 
Uraga,    General,    deserts    to 

Maximilian,  215  ;  attempts 

to  induce  Diaz   to  desert, 

221,   222 

V 

Vaal  River,  De  Wet's  cross- 
ing of  the,   259 

Val6e,  Marshal,  distinguished 
in  Algeria,  123 

Valrik,  battle  of,  130 

Venezuela,  the  liberation  of, 
96 

Vera  Cruz,  a  mixed  force 
despatched  to,  214 

Vicksburg,  fall  of  the  fortress 
of,    192 

Victor  Emmanuel,  King,  re- 
ceives Garibaldi,  162  ;  feels 
compelled  to  oppose  him, 
165 

Volturno,  battle  of  the,  159, 
160 

Voronzov,  General,  storms 
the  fortress  of  Dargo,  131 

"  Vosges,  Volunteers  of  the," 
169 

W 

Warren,  Admiral  Sir  John,  in 
command  of  British  Fleet 
to  help  Chouans,  32,  33 

Warriba  Hills,  capture  of 
Osuian  Digna  in  the,  255 

Washington,  George,  com- 
parison of,  with  Simon 
Bolivar,  97 

Westermann,  outrages  of,  in 
La  Vendue,  22 

Windish  Mark,  Lord  of  the, 
64 


294 


GUERILLA  LEADERS 


Wrede,  General  von,  occupa- 
tion of  Brixen  by,  49  ;  his 
ignorance  of  mountain  war- 
fare, 50 ;  crushing  defeat 
of,  52  ;  joined  by  General 
Brisson,  55  ;  surprises  the 
enemy  at  Berg  Isel,  64 


Yates,  Captain,  236 

Yellow  Face,  chief  of  the 
Crow  tribe,  234 

Yellowstone  River,  the,  236 

Yevdokimoff,  Russian  Gen- 
eral, 126 

Yong,  Pieter,  a  Dutch  volun- 
teer, 168 


Yusuf,  General,  an  Arab  ex- 
slave,  121 


Zaragoza,  General,  216 
Zereba,      McNeill's,      bloody 

battle    for    possession    of, 

249-52 
Zouaoua,    the,    a   senii-inde- 

pendent  tribe,   106 
Zouaves,  organisation  of  the, 

106  ;  their  fine  exploits  in 

Algeria,  107-13  ;  dangerous 

defection    in    their    ranks, 

110 
Zululand,  destruction  of  the 

24th  Regiment  in,  237 


WILLIAM    BRENDON    AND  SON     LIO- 
PRINTERS.    PLYMOUTH 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


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